Dr. Ghosh brings with her 25 years of experience in directing international development programs, including research, policy development, business, advocacy and health system strengthening, as well as implementing multi-country large-scale health and nutrition programs. She has also led many digital technology initiatives and has experience developing and fostering partnerships between public, private and non-profit sectors.

She has an impressive string of credentials: high impact leadership training at Cambridge University, a PhD in healthcare and nutrition, a double Master’s in social work and English, and a Gold Medalist in Bachelor of Mass Communication, just to name a few.

Dr. Ghosh describes herself as a believer in innovation and transformation. Using the power of data and analytics, she has led many research and behaviour change projects that have helped bring new perspectives to program implementation and evidence-based planning.

If her experience and credentials aren’t enough, Dr. Ghosh is also a poet and has plans to publish an anthology of her Hindi language poems.

I sat down with her recently to talk about her hopes and plans for Operation Eyesight.

Q: Why did you choose to work in eye health, and why did you choose to work with Operation Eyesight?

Dr. Ghosh: I have a passion to contribute to community development; that’s why I originally pursued social work.

Vision loss can impact a person’s independence, mobility and has been linked to injury. It impacts the quality of life as significantly affects mental health, social standing, cognition, employment, even educational attainment, which can in turn impact livelihood, not only among seniors but also in younger generations.

I appreciate the approach that Operation Eyesight is taking when it comes to gender equality and ensuring eye care is available and accessible in the local community, especially through the strategic use of door-to-door surveys and community vision centres.

Operation Eyesight also has a robust gender policy, which ensures that gender perspectives and attention to the goal of gender equality are central across all program models, interventions and partnerships. Numerous studies have shown gender disparity has various negative health outcomes. Many times, women don’t go for checkups because a health facility is not available in the nearby area. When it comes to eye health, affordability, availability and accessibility are significant barriers for women. They can only have equal opportunities to earn, learn and grow when we put them at the centre of the development of all programming, be it in the public or private sectors.

Q: What role does research play in global eye health, and what role do you want to see it play in Operation Eyesight’s work?

Dr. Ghosh:  Research informs the direction, focus areas and interventions of our work. We conduct Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) surveys to understand the local culture, beliefs and community needs, and design the projects accordingly. As a result, the sustainability of our programs is very high.

If we don’t know the impact of our work, we can’t say that our model is successful. Further baseline and endline studies are vital to know the impact of our programs, without which we would be unable to declare entire villages avoidable blindness-free. We should measure impact quantitatively as well as in qualitative terms, like improved health-seeking behaviours, adherence to spectacles, improved WASH practices, etc.  

Operation Eyesight also engages in advocacy in order to influence government policies and strengthen national guidelines. In many countries, eye health data is not available, and we have a chance to build eye health indicators in a country’s government database and track progress in different districts and provinces. One major gap here is the need for more gender disaggregated data to show whether women are accessing services or not. For example, if we say 40 people received cataract surgery but don’t know the gender breakdown, maybe it’s 35 males and only five females.

Q: We know that eye health is linked with many other development issues. How do these areas factor into our work?

Dr. Ghosh: Eye health cuts across the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Poverty and hunger are a good example. If a person becomes blind, there is impact on their livelihood, for both them and their entire family; if one person loses their sight, their entire family suffers.

Similarly, when it comes to empowerment of women and women’s health, without empowering women to access eye health and other health services, we can’t move towards that goal. Similarly, when it comes to primary education, we know that if a child can’t see the blackboard, they cannot learn and study. So, the distribution of prescription eyeglasses is a key contributor to this goal.

I would like us to further enhance our research to see how we can understand eye health as well as its determinants, such as maternal health, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs, immunization and nutrition. Therefore, if we – civil society and governments – all focus on enhancing access to eye health, it will help achieve the global SDGs.

Q: The world is changing quickly. What’s the biggest challenge we now face as an organization when it comes to achieving our mission and vision?

Dr. Ghosh: A number of things have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, I observed that entire health systems were jeopardized. The primary focus of many governments shifted to how to control the spread of COVID-19. As a result, other health programs were frequently put on the backburner. The need of the hour is for governments and other sectors to refocus on other health areas, including eye health.

The question we need to ask is: how do we strengthen health systems, so that eye health is mainstreamed?

Across the board, people are spending more time on screens. This is impacting people’s health, especially their eyes. Increasingly, people are using digital technology as the primary way to interface and get information, so we as an organization have to move at the pace the world is moving. That’s why we’re planning to use digital survey tools, digital behaviour change communications, digital job aids, digital training module with digital messaging, because this is the way forward. Moreover, technological excellence such as teleophthalmology is necessary to adopt to reach more communities in far-flung areas, because this is the way forward. We are now mixing both approaches of digital and interpersonal communication to access patients and families, and we are considering how we can enhance services and further strengthen health systems.

We customize our programs based on the needs of individual countries. Therefore, our digital strategy also needs to be tailored to the communities where we work. For example, many rural areas have limited Internet access, and in many areas women face barriers to accessing digital technology. So, if we want to convey messages to women in these areas, we need to see which tool and medium is really useful for them. Literacy rates are also important to consider; some areas where illiteracy is prevalent may require visual or audio messages in the local language to understand our messages.

Q: When it comes to tailoring our approach in each country, how does that work?

Dr. Ghosh: Our country directors are our change champion. They work on the frontlines as the face of Operation Eyesight. There are lots of opportunities for them to develop strategic partnerships with like-minded agencies, develop coalitions, identify capacity building needs with partner hospitals and their staff, develop appropriate training modules and build partnerships with governments.

Our country teams are at the forefront of quality program delivery; without them we couldn’t do what we do. When our staff, partners and donors are working in sync, we are able to contribute meaningfully to global eye health in different countries.

Q: What do you most want to achieve at Operation Eyesight?

Dr. Ghosh: I have a number of goals, the first being to reach more communities.  

Second, I want us to have multi-country research that includes different parameters, besides just eye health, with increased emphasis on evidence-based planning, to deliver care to more communities in hard-to-reach areas. We will also focus on behavior change interventions, so that communities are able to take charge of their own eye health.

All of this work will help build the capacity of partner hospitals and staff, while delivering cost-effective program models that can be scaled up quickly in different contexts in regions in Africa and Asia. Globally, we will focus on health system strengthening in the public and private sectors.

Third, I hope to develop the donor base in our countries of work and identify in-country partnership opportunities, with governments, hospitals, local leaders, corporations and like-minded partners. In the long run, I want to see Operation Eyesight version 2.0, where we cater to more countries and are having a ripple effect in a range of other development areas. We just celebrated our 60-year milestone as an organization, and as we continue to adapt and grow in an ever-changing world, I think our future is very bright.

The post Global leadership, local perspectives  appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

She’s also proof of the unique role women can have in impacting the health of communities across Africa.

“I was working as a community health nurse before I was invited to be trained as a primary eye care worker,” Mabel says, referring to her work with the care team at the government-run Kormantse Clinic. “There’s a high prevalence of eye conditions among the fisher folk in my community. The nature of their work makes them more likely to suffer from eye diseases. That’s why I joined the fight against avoidable blindness in the municipality.”

Today, thanks to the training she received through Operation Eyesight, Mabel provides education and eye health screening to others across the Municipality of Mfantseman. “I still carry out my duties as a community health nurse, but eye care is now well integrated in the things I do,” she says.

Vision impairment disproportionately affects women and girls across the globe, yet they are less likely to be prioritized for eye care. Lack of income and transportation are common barriers, as are traditional female responsibilities like child care and collecting water. That’s why it’s so important to have women like Mabel trained to screen for eye conditions. She can reach women and girls at home, provide referrals, and offer the information and reassurances that some may need to seek treatment.

As a single working mom, Mabel needs to balance her work with caring for her young daughter. She says she enjoys the flexibility that comes with working with Operation Eyesight.

“Operation Eyesight supports me with transportation and meals when I go to the field,” she says. “I save part of my wages to pay for my child’s school fees.”

Mabel says she’s passionate about helping others, especially those experiencing poverty.

She recalls a patient whose story has stuck with her. Yaw, a 69-year-old man who lives in Kormantse, had been experiencing blurred vision for three years. Mabel says she visited his home as part of a routine door-to-door screening and quickly discovered that he had cataracts. She referred him to the base hospital for surgery, which he promptly visited the next day. He underwent sight-restoring surgery and today he can see clearly.

Other times, Mabel may face more reluctant patients, so part of her job is to encourage those who have had little interaction with the healthcare system to get treatment, and to assure them that it’s both safe and worthwhile. She adds that spending time with people in her community is what makes her work so rewarding.

“The job gives me the opportunity to interact with many people,” Mabel says. “My family sees this job as an opportunity to change the perception about eye health through education.”

International Women’s Day 2023

March 8, 2023 is International Women’s Day – it’s an opportunity to spread the message of gender equality and highlight the importance of creating a society free of gender bias. It’s also a chance to celebrate the unique role women like Mabel play in communities globally.

Most of the community health workers trained by Operation Eyesight partner hospitals are women. When women are employed as community health workers, they have an opportunity to become trusted leaders in their communities and act as catalysts for positive health outcomes. This employment improves their ability to become active participants in their family’s socioeconomic stability.

Not only is empowering women and reducing gender inequalities the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do. Evidence shows that empowering women is one of the strongest catalysts for driving sustainable development across all sectors. It enhances economic growth, improves education and increases positive health outcomes. You can learn more about our gender strategies by signing up for our eNewsletter.

The post Community health nurses help break down gender barriers in accessing eye care appeared first on Operation Eyesight.