National Programme for Control of Blindness
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Direct answer
Blindness prevalence in India fell from 1.1% in the 2001-02 survey to 0.36% in the National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey 2015-18, vindicating the National Programme for Control of Blindness launched in 1976 and renamed the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCBVI) in 2017. The programme's declared goal is to reduce blindness prevalence to 0.3%, in line with WHO norms for eliminating blindness as a public health problem, using India's working definition of blindness as presenting visual acuity below 3/60 in the better eye. Cataract remains the leading cause, responsible for roughly three-fifths of blindness in the 2015-18 survey, with refractive error the dominant cause of moderate visual impairment; corneal opacity, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy complete the list. Trachoma — once a major cause — has been eliminated as a public health problem, with WHO validation announced following national surveys showing trachomatous inflammation-follicular prevalence below the elimination threshold in every district.
What you must remember
- Timeline: NPCB launched 1976 as a centrally sponsored scheme; renamed NPCBVI in 2017 to cover visual impairment beyond blindness; India joined WHO's Vision 2020 partnership at the turn of the century.
- Target: reduce blindness prevalence to 0.3% (from 1.1% in 2001-02); the 2015-18 survey already measured 0.36%.
- Definitions: blindness — presenting visual acuity < 3/60 in the better eye; economic blindness < 6/60 — textbook categories that survive in exams even as definitions evolve.
- Cause hierarchy 2015-18: cataract leads (about 62% of blindness), refractive error leads moderate visual impairment; then corneal opacity, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration.
- Activities: free cataract surgery with intraocular lens in public facilities, school eye screening for refractive error, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma screening, corneal transplantation through eye banks, vitamin A linkage.
- Eye donation: National Eye Donation Fortnight runs 25 August to 8 September; eye banks and hospital cornea retrieval programmes supply the corneal gap.
- Trachoma: SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, Environmental improvement); India's elimination validated by WHO — commonly cited as 2024 — after successive national surveys.
- Survey method worth quoting: RAAB (Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness) methodology in persons aged 50-plus, extrapolated to population prevalence.
Following a cataract backlog district
Enter a district with a cataract backlog among its 50-plus population. The programme logic is surgical throughput with quality: outreach screening identifies operable cataract, transport brings patients to the base hospital, surgery is free with IOL implantation, and outcome is recorded at four to six weeks — because NPCB counts useful vision restored (6/18 or better with correction), not operations done. District performance is judged as surgeries per million population per year, and coverage improves as the programme moves from camp-driven volume to fixed facilities with audited outcomes. Running alongside is the school-screening pipeline — teachers screen for reduced vision, refractionists confirm, spectacles are distributed — and diabetic retinopathy screening that drags every registered diabetic's retina before a fundus camera.
The avoidable-blindness framing organises the whole chapter: two-thirds of India's blindness is either curable (cataract, refractive error) or preventable (vitamin A deficiency corneal scarring, injuries, late-caught glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy). That is why NPCBVI concentrates on cataract surgical services, human-resource development for underserved districts, and infrastructure from peripheral vision centres to tertiary institutes. Trachoma's exit demonstrates the same economics in reverse: SAFE combined surgery for trichiasis, azithromycin distribution and water-sanitation-hygiene promotion to push district prevalence below elimination thresholds — disease control done to verification standard.
Numbers the exam loves
One-marks cluster on four pairs: 1976 launch and 2017 renaming; the 0.3% target against 0.36% current prevalence; cataract as leading cause with refractive error leading moderate visual impairment; and 25 August-8 September for eye donation fortnight. The definition trap is presenting versus best-corrected acuity — India's programme definition uses presenting vision, and the <3/60 threshold differs from older Indian categories, so stems shuffle "economic blindness < 6/60" as a distractor. SAFE letters map individually to components in matching questions. Finally, expect a current-affairs item on trachoma elimination and a survey-methods option about RAAB being a rapid, 50-plus, population-based assessment — the phrase "avoidable blindness" (curable plus preventable) is the viva hook that ties the chapter together.
Frequently asked questions
When was the National Programme for Control of Blindness launched and renamed?
Launched in 1976; renamed the National Programme for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment in 2017 when its mandate widened beyond blindness.
What is the programme's target blindness prevalence?
Reduction to 0.3% — the 2015-18 national survey measured 0.36%, down from 1.1% in 2001-02.
Which is the leading cause of blindness in India?
Cataract, accounting for roughly three-fifths of blindness in the 2015-18 survey, with uncorrected refractive error the leading cause of moderate visual impairment.
What does the SAFE strategy stand for?
Surgery for trichiasis, Antibiotics for infection, Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement — WHO's trachoma elimination package, which took India to validated elimination.
How is blindness defined in the Indian programme?
Presenting visual acuity below 3/60 in the better eye, a working definition close to WHO's blindness threshold used across NPCBVI surveys and certification.