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A vision of gender equality

Across the world, women disproportionately make up 64.5% of the visually impaired population. Whilst the reasons for this are numerous, studies have shown that in developing nations in particular, men are 46% more likely to receive sight-restoring surgery than women.

According to a study published in The Lancet in 2020, around 596 million people in the world rely on some form of visual aid, mostly glasses or contact lenses. Another 510 million people suffer from untreated vision issues including severe visual impairment and blindness. 90% of these people live in remote communities within low and middle-income nations.

Cataracts account for around 40% of all blindness across the globe, closely followed by refractive errors and glaucoma. However, whilst the trauma caused to the eyes from glaucoma can cause permanent and irreversible damage, a large proportion of cataracts and refractive errors can be reversed, and sight can be restored with a simple surgical procedure.

Amongst the large number of reasons that start to explain why the incidence of blind women is much higher than for men, seems to be a major gender inequality in the accessibility of healthcare within developing nations.

A review from the Journal of Ophthalmology states that socioeconomic and cultural standards also play a significant role in the treatment of eye care for females. Nearly 4 out of 5 women living a life of needless blindness do so because they are regarded as second-class citizens. Research shows that families are far more willing invest in the cure of a male family member with blindness than a female.

Living in rural or isolated areas can lead to a complete disconnect from the world for women, causing extreme difficulties in travelling to doctors and hospitals. In some localities the idea of a woman travelling outside of her village to seek medical attention is almost unheard of. Women also do not have independent access to the money to pay for transport or travel to hospitals.

Many women in low-income countries have many ‘traditional’ and cultural responsibilities that tie them within their homes and communities, preventing them from leaving their village. Men are often the family breadwinners, and their health is perceived as more vital for family welfare. In addition to this, when a family member becomes blind, the duty of caring for that family member usually falls upon the females in the household, disenfranchising them from work or education.

Education is another element that plays a major role in women not receiving equal treatment for a loss of vision. For example, studies show that illiteracy rates are significantly higher amongst women in low-income nations in South Asia, where womens work tends to revolve around the home. Research in South India shows that the literacy levels of an individual and their family is a highly accurate predictor of a family member becoming blind due to cataracts.

So what can be done?

Because women have a much higher chance of developing cataracts, many experts suggest that more emphasis should be placed on curing female patients in developing countries in order to produce a more equal cataract surgical coverage. This has been the approach of the Tej Kohli & Ruit Foundation: between 2021 and 2022, 56.4% of the patients that the NGO cured of cataract blindness in countries like Nepal, were women.

The World Health Organisation has also made broader recommendations to support a reduction in gender inequality for receiving cataract surgery within low-income countries. The suggestions include:

• Reducing the cost of surgery.
• Increasing the flexibility of the time that patients need to attend appointments.
• Reducing the need for family accompaniment.
• Providing free transport.
• Holding educational outreach programmes.

These recommendations have been widely adopted, with NGOs such as the Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation spending a large portion of their budgets not on the surgery, but on the logistics of locating patients – in particular women – and persuading their families to allow them to be treated, before transporting them to receive treatment. The Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation has also made commitments to target more support at women and children.

The 13th of October 2022 is World Sight Day, when many organisations supporting those with needless blindness across the world with reaffirm their commitment to the #2030InSight mission to make good quality eye care a universal right for all women and men.

It is vital that this is achieved, not just for the welfare of the women suffering needlessly with blindness, but because the health of women has not only generational repercussions, but also implications for contemporaneous labor force participation, productivity, earnings, family income, and economic wellbeing. Improved female health boosts economic returns through increased productivity. In short, empowering women is one of the best ways to increase happiness and to reduce poverty.

The Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation Collective Fund is a restricted fund operating under the auspices of Prism the Gift Fund, Registered UK Charity Number: 1099682.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Tej Kohli and Ruit Foundation .