Hyderabad-based L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) has achieved a remarkable milestone by rehabilitating one lakh visually impaired clients from its vision rehabilitation centres – the Meera and L B Deshpande Centre for sight enhancement and Dr P R K Prasad Centre for rehabilitation of the blind and visually impaired at the close of the year 2011.

This unique distinction is one of a kind in the world, as LVPEI is one of the earliest and the first institutes to provide vision rehabilitation alongside the state-of-the art medical and surgical treatments for those with eye problems, under a single roof.

Dr Gullapalli N Rao, founder-chairman says, “Traditionally, even in the developed countries, rehabilitation services are provided by educational institutions or non-governmental organizations. However, these services should be part of eye hospitals where patients with low vision or blindness seek care. Also, rehabilitation services are almost non-existent in developing countries such as India. LVPEI had built these services in its mission statement right from its inception about 25 years ago. By providing these services the institute intends to impact the lives of all those with low vision and blindness by improving their quality of life.”

The Vision Rehabilitation centres have a team of dedicated well-qualified and trained professionals who play a pivotal role in rehabilitating patients. Together, the two centres provide comprehensive rehabilitation services that range from assessment and prescription of low vision devices (such as magnifiers to help patients with low vision read again) to social, educational and vocational rehabilitation through training or re-training persons with low vision and blindness to the highest possible level of functional ability. These activities are not limited to the centre but those with low vision and blindness in the community who cannot access the services are rehabilitated through community-based rehabilitation services.

Visually impaired persons often remain socially isolated and sequestered in their homes. Various factors are responsible for this, some of which includes:

Lack of awareness that patients with visual impairment can be successfully rehabilitated. Most non-medical people and even many doctors are unfamiliar with a truly independent visually impaired person’s capabilities and thus, harbour myths about both low vision and blindness; Non-availability of and/or access to low vision rehabilitation services; Insufficient provision of affordable low vision devices; and Cultural beliefs/myths regarding use of low vision devices.

LVPEI, through its Rehabilitation Centres, has been rendering yeoman services to empower people with low vision and blindness so they become important contributing members of the society.

LVPEI is a not-for-profit, non-government, public-spirited, comprehensive eye care institution, putting forward its core values the “Three E’s”, namely, Equity, Efficiency and Excellence.