Around 1.73 lakh school children in Karnataka suffer from refractive errors

As many as 1.73 lakh children in Karnataka were found to be suffering from refractive errors, possibly due to excessive use of mobile phone and TV. According to the ‘School Children Eye Screening’ report for the 2022-23 academic year, which was the outcome of a survey by the Department of Health and Family Welfare in March 2023, of the total screened children, 1,73,099 children were suffering from refractive errors. School children eye screening findings & corrective action Jurisdiction Children screened Detected refractive error Provided glasses Belagavi 6,74,939 39,997 15,313 Vijayapura 3,60,533 13,170 2,572 BBMP 3,11,237 10,193 2,555 Davangere 1,41,931 6,348 2,231 Ballari 2,34,661 6,333 3,090 Bidar 1,88,220 5,677 2,787 Under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, the Department of Health and Family Welfare conducted the screening, including for eyes, anaemia, malnutrition, and worms, for children of government, aided and private schools across Karnataka In the academic year 2022-23, the department had a target of 64,48,793 students for eye screening. Samagra Shikshana Karnataka has issued a circular in this regard, and said that excessive use of mobile phones and mobile addiction has led to visual impairment among children.