Childhood blindness is one of the priority targets of vision 2020. It is a global problem especially in developing countries as nearly two third of childhood blindness is preventable and many a times it goes unnoticed and irreversible. Thus it is an outstanding problem in the field of ophthalmology, posing a great challenge to the medical profession in general and ophthalmologist in particular. Corneal blindness is one of the leading causes of childhood blindness in India. It is responsible for about 55-60% of total childhood blindness, of which 73% belongs to low socioeconomic group. About 50-70% of the corneal blindness in children is either treatable or largely preventable. Corneal scarring due to Vitamin A deficiency, Measles, Ophthalmia neonatorum and use of harmful traditional practices are some of the important causes of corneal blindness in India. Various studies have been conducted by different authors to quantify the prevalence and enumerate the causes of blindness in children. This study helps to address the issue of corneal blindness in particular as it is reversible cause in most of the circumstances provided the preventive measures taken in time.
