Vision loss in the elderly population is a major health problem. According to the Journal of American Family Physicians (Vol. 60/No. 1), approximately one person in three has some form of vision-reducing eye disease by the age of 65 in the U.S.A. The prevalence of visual impairment among the elderly is much higher in developing countries like India. The most common causes of vision loss among the elderly are age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataract, and diabetic retinopathy.

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Visually impaired employees of different government departments staged a protest demonstration at commissioner’s office over nonpayment of their salaries for the last four months.

The protesters took out a rally from Kachehri Chowk to commissioner’s office and blocked traffic for hours. Dozens of employees working on daily wages and contract basis in Municipal Corporation, special education and social welfare departments participated in the rally.

In the 11th episode of the third season of Touching Lives, the telecom services provider presented university scholarships, mobility equipment, and laptop computers with voice recognition to two students of the institution.

One of the beneficiaries, Philomena Ukwueze, 30, recently scored 243 in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and had received an offer to study Guidance and Counselling at the University of Ibadan.

The 2016 Act will give full effect to the UN Convention

The Supreme Court observed that “employment is a key factor in the empowerment and inclusion of people with disabilities” in its judgment in theUnion of India v. National Federation of the Blind case (2013).

The verdict registered the “alarming reality” of disabled persons out of jobs, not because of their disabilities but due to social and physical barriers that prevent them from joining the workforce.

JAJPUR/BERHAMPUR:  Beyond the numbers crunched for the all-time record results in High School Certificate (HSC) examination are the real stories of success of a girl belonging to the Mankedia tribe in Jajpur district and the visually challenged students of a school in Ambapur on the outskirts of Berhampur.

If Moneka Mankedia became the first female from the nomadic Mankedia tribe to clear the annual examination, seven girls from the Red Cross School for the Blind in Ambapur overcame the odds of impairment to keep the school’s 100 per cent success rate intact.