Access is the real bottleneck in urban healthcare—not infrastructure. Sightsavers India, in partnership with Dr Ramalinga Reddy Maxivision Super Speciality Eye Hospitals, is tackling that gap head-on in Hyderabad through its Urban Eye Health Programme. The focus is simple: bring eye care closer to people who are least likely to access it.
Urban healthcare looks accessible on paper. In reality, for many:
Access is limited by:
Even when hospitals are nearby, care is often delayed—or skipped entirely.
The numbers tell a clear story.
This isn’t just outreach. It’s systematic case-finding and referral building.
The programme runs on a dual-delivery approach:
These centres act as the first point of contact.
This ensures continuity of care, not just one-time screening.
Most outreach programmes fail at follow-through. This one addresses that.
It connects three layers:
That linkage is where real impact happens.
Rural healthcare gaps are visible. Urban gaps are hidden. Rapid urbanisation has created:
This requires:
RN Mohanty, CEO of Sightsavers India, emphasizes coordinated action across stakeholders as the key to scaling impact.
A key takeaway from the partnership: Hospital care alone isn’t enough. The Maxivision team highlights the need for:
This shifts eye care from a reactive model to a proactive system.
This initiative isn’t just about eye screenings. It’s about re-engineering access in urban healthcare.
For underserved populations, that’s the difference between: Ignoring symptoms—and getting treated in time. If scaled effectively, this model could become a blueprint for urban healthcare delivery across India.