Integrating Eye & Ear Care at Primary Level

Hearing impairment affects 5.3% of the world population and its implication at individual family and community level is considerable. Both eye and ear care are public health issues and lack trained manpower to address them. In August 2010 a project was initiated to assess feasibility of integrating ear and eye care services at primary level. During the project Vision Technicians posted at two vision centres of Dr. Shroff's Charity Hospital India were trained in primary ear care using WHO 'Intermediate module' and basic equipment to provide primary ear care were provided. The evaluation of pilot project was carried out from November 2012 to January 2013 to assess feasibility of provision of integrated services through already existing public health infrastructure of the country. For in-depth evaluation both quantitative and qualitative methods were used.Training Vision technicians and ophthalmic assistants in private and public health care delivery systems will go a long way in addressing ear morbidities in a cost effective manner in resource poor settings.