The 2021 Nepal population census showed that of the country's total population of 29,164,578, about two per cent people had some kind of disability. Of this disability, people with low vision were 110,525 (male-53,730 and female-56,795); blind people were 35,142 (male-17,804; female-17,338) and Deaf-Blind were 10,187 (male-5,368; female-4,819).

In the Federal Structure of Nepal, there are seven Provinces and 77 districts in the country. There is a variation in the prevalence of avoidable blindness among the provinces and districts. The 2020/21 rapid assessment of avoidable blindness survey showed that the prevalence of avoidable blindness in Gandaki Province, one of the 7 provinces, showed that the Refractive Error (RE) was 17.5% and Cataract was more than 60%. among the total provincial population of 2,466,427. While the service coverage is about 30%. This shows a huge unmet need in reaching a huge population. This gap is mainly due to the lack of access to eye care services at the community level, particularly in remote areas of the province and districts. The prevalence of blindness in Kaski district under Gandaki Province, also follows a similarity trend to that of the Provincial level prevalence rate. This indicates that people of Kaski district, mainly elderly and children, need eye care services at the community level.

My name is Aashish Subedi. I am currently living in Toronto, Canada. I am associated with a Nepalese non-profit non-governmental organization named Shree Devi Raman Krishna Kumari Smriti Pratishthan (DEKUSP) Registration No. - [ JI. PRA. KA. Ka 4709 ] , basically a community-service oriented NGO, based in the town of Pokhara, Nepal. The organization was established three years ago in memory of a locally renowned teacher Late Devi Raman Sharma Shastri and a Women Social Worker Late Krishna Kumari Sharma. This organization is registered at Kaski District Administration Office, Government of Nepal with the main purpose of working in the field of health and education for the marginalized rural families of the hills of Nepal to contribute to improved health, especially eye health of elderly men, women and children and education of children of socio-economically marginalized families. The organization collaborates with different local organizations.

During 2024 and early 2025, the Organization organized two eye health camps in rural areas of Kaski District (Kaskikot and Hyanjung villages) in collaboration with Rural Municipalities and local youth clubs. In these eye camps, eyes of more than 1,000 people were examined, 350 pair of glasses and 600 vials of eye medicines were distributed free of cost, and twenty-five people with cataract were referred to an eye hospital situated in the town of Pokhara for surgery.

Encouraged from those eye camps, the Organization is planning to further organize a series of 20 eye camps during 2026 with a target of serving more than 8,000 elderly men, women and children in 20 cluster villages of Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality of Kaski District, Nepal. For these camps, an estimated $ 20,000 is required. Therefore, on behalf of Devi Raman Krishna Kumari Smriti Pratishtha , I would like to request for financial support from those who are willing to help restore the sights of elderly men and women, as well as improve the refractive errors of elderly and children of the remote villages of Machhapuchhre Rural Municipality of Kaski District, Nepal.

Thank you for your contributions.