Roadside eye care: helping Indian truckers stay safe behind the wheel

Ravinder Singh has been driving for almost 40 years. He has a wife and five children in his home state of Bihar, but his route takes him to other states so he lives in his truck, and can only afford to go back to see them every 18 months. When we spoke, he was happily sporting a brand new pair of glasses.

“I was having problem with near vision for about a year,” he explained. “If there was a person [in front of the truck] I wouldn’t see them, then all of a sudden they’d be in front of me and I’d have to brake suddenly, nearly causing an accident. I didn’t go to the doctor before because I don’t even have a house to live in, so how can I afford a pair of spectacles?

I earn, I eat and I send money to the family. Where will I get the extra money to buy a pair of spectacles? If I couldn’t drive it would be a big problem – we wouldn’t have been able to get food.

“Now I have these spectacles for free, I’ll be able to work for more days and earn my living. I could only get them because it was free. I feel great – I’m very happy.”

Biswanath Dey is 60 years old. Six months ago he was diagnosed with cataracts, but couldn’t afford the operation to treat them. He hadn’t stopped driving, so I was shocked when he told me he couldn’t see my face clearly when I was sitting right in front of him.

“It’s becoming hazier day by day,” he revealed. “Near things are cloudy. I can see big things [far away], but not smaller things. I’ve just got used to this and normally I don’t take my truck out at night so it’s not that difficult. I adjust to the difficulties I face – my eyes accommodate. I have fixed routes to two places, so since I go daily I know where is what.”

With his referral from this screening, he can now get free surgery to treat his cataracts. “I will be happy if the operation is a success – there can be nothing greater than that. Images will be clear in front of me while driving. It will be safer.”

For fellow truck driver Harmush Khan, finding the screening camp at his truck stop was a case of right place, right time. Harmush had been worrying about his sight for a while, but didn’t know what to do about it. He’d stopped off to get some work done on his truck when he heard he could get help.

“It was a stroke of luck. I’m really happy there’s a free camp here exactly when I needed it. I’m not a wealthy man, so for me getting this service is really important. I’m immensely grateful that I don’t have to go outside [of my route] and give out money – that might be difficult for me, so I am really really happy.”

Ramjit Mahato was first given spectacles at an eye camp a year ago, but they broke so he came back to get a new pair.

“I was very frightened before I got them,” he reveals. “I was scared of an accident at any moment. My eyes used to water too much and hurt when I was driving. Since I drive for long hours, it was very painful. Now it has reduced dramatically. I feel safe now – I’m confident that no accidents will happen. Putting the spectacles away is a problem now, I’m so dependent on them! I’m so happy that once I put them on I can get everything just so. Everything changes.

“Because of spectacles we will be safe, other people will be safe, and the vehicles that give us the money will be safe. So spectacles are very important.”

All photos ©World Health Organization/Arko Datto