Find out why blindness is a gender issue and meet our other inspiring female eye health heroes.
Women in Nepal face enormous difficulties in seeking eye care, and their access to and use of eye health services is much lower than men. This is because of cultural factors as well as their lower levels of education, literacy, and access to disposable income.
The major factors that prevent women from getting the care they need are financial difficulties, a lack of awareness about eye health, and health facilities being located far away from their homes.
“If a female in a house thinks she’s ill, she needs to get permission from the male in the home that makes the decision on whether she goes today or some other day later in the month,”
says Dr Sarma.
“I think women are deprived of health in general and more so for eye health… it is not thought of as a priority,” she adds.
At The Fred Hollows Foundation, we are committed to helping the women of Nepal access proper eye care.
We want to train more than 1,375 community health workers, and 1,400 teachers and school health staff so that more women and men in remote areas can get the help they need.