Turning the tide of corneal blindness

Eliminating treatable corneal blindness presents a daunting but surmountable challenge for the upcoming decades. Over the past 30 years, large strides have been made toward addressing the root causes of corneal blindness from a public health standpoint. Across the globe, major investments have been made in trachoma control, vitamin A supplementation to prevent keratomalacia, onchocerciasis elimination, and investment in a primary eye care health infrastructure to prevent and treat infectious keratitis. As noted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their 2009 Action Plan, the global health communities’ ongoing challenge is to rapidly grow worldwide eye care services at a time when life expectancy and demand for eye services is simultaneously increasing.[1] It has been well documented that the vast burden of eye disease falls on those living in the developing world and that the majority of these diseases are either treatable or preventable. This is particularly true for diseases of the cornea. The phenomenal ascendancy of cataract surgical rates witnessed in Asian countries such as India and Nepal over the past two decades has laid a strong eye care foundation to begin to address the burden of existing treatable corneal blindness on a grander scale.