OSSSC Nursing Disease Guide

Non-communicable · High priority

Blindness and common eye disease

Core disease facts with the linked government programme, prevention and treatment or cure reality.

TypeA group of mainly non-infectious eye conditions, including cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

Image-based identification

Close-up photograph of a cataract in a human eye
What to identifyCataract is opacity of the lens and is a major treatable cause of blindness.Image credit: Rakesh Ahuja, MD — CC BY-SA 3.0 / GFDL
Medical illustration of diabetic retinopathy in the retina
What to identifyDiabetic retinopathy is a microvascular retinal complication; screening can detect damage before major visual loss.Image credit: Blausen.com staff — CC BY 3.0

Government programmes, schemes and services

  • Programme: National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment: Reduces avoidable blindness through cataract surgery, refractive-error correction, school eye screening and services for corneal, childhood, glaucoma and diabetic eye disease.
  • Service: Ayushman Arogya Mandir primary eye care: Supports basic vision screening, early recognition, simple eye care and referral to specialist services.

Prevention

  • Prevent: Eye screening, refractive correction, diabetes control/retinal examination, glaucoma detection, eye donation/corneal services

Treatment and cure reality

  • Treat: Cataract is curable by surgery and refractive error correctable; glaucomatous optic-nerve damage is irreversible but progression can be controlled.

Must remember

  • Cataract: Painless progressive visual loss; surgery with intraocular lens is definitive treatment.
  • Glaucoma: Progressive optic-nerve damage; open-angle glaucoma is often silent until late.
  • Acute angle-closure glaucoma: Painful red eye, blurred vision/halos, headache, nausea, mid-dilated pupil—an emergency.
  • Diabetic retinopathy: Can be asymptomatic early; regular retinal screening is essential.
  • Vitamin A deficiency: Night blindness is an early symptom; Bitot spots and xerophthalmia are classic signs.
  • Programme name: National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment—not merely “blindness control.”
  • Programme began: 1976, one of the earliest national programmes for visual impairment.