Health · Healthcare & Policy · 2 hrs ago
Gender shapes access to eye care for girls and women in India
A community eye specialist in Hyderabad recalled a family resisting surgery for a young girl with retinoblastoma, a fast-growing eye cancer.
Doctors said removing the girl’s eye was needed for her to survive, but her father worried the change in her appearance would affect her chances of marriage.
Retinoblastoma often occurs in young children and can be fatal if it is not treated.
The example shows how concerns about marriage and appearance can affect girls’ care.
Older women can also receive treatment later or have poorer access to effective care.
These patterns mean gender can shape whose vision is prioritised, with consequences for access to sight-saving treatment.
Gender can shape whose vision is prioritised in India, from girls needing sight-saving treatment to older women seeking eye care.
Rohit Khanna of L.V. Prasad Eye Institute described a family resisting surgery for a girl with retinoblastoma because they feared it would affect her marriage prospects.
The recommended operation required removing the child’s eyeball, and Khanna said the family questioned whether she should live if she would be disfigured.
The article says older women may receive treatment later or have poorer access to effective care.
- Who
- Girls and women in India are affected. The article also describes a girl with retinoblastoma and her family.
- What
- Gender shapes access to and prioritisation of eye care.
- When
- Not stated
- Where
- India. The case described by Rohit Khanna was at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad.
- Why
- The article says concerns about marriage and appearance can lead families to question treatment for girls, while older women may face later treatment or poorer access to effective care.
Families resisting surgery
Eye-care professionals recommending treatment
Treatment
Families resisting surgery
The girl’s family resisted the recommended surgery because they feared disfigurement would affect her marriage prospects.
Eye-care professionals recommending treatment
Rohit Khanna said the child needed surgery, including removal of the eyeball, to survive.
Khanna recalled advising a family that a girl with retinoblastoma needed surgery, including removal of her eyeball, to survive.
The family resisted the recommendation, citing concerns about disfigurement and the girl’s future marriage prospects.
- Condition
- Retinoblastoma, a rare, fast-growing eye tumour often seen in early childhood
- Recommended treatment
- Surgery requiring removal of the child’s eyeball
- Medical institute
- L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad
- Article publication date
- October 31, 2026
What people are saying
We told the family that the child required surgery and that the eyeball would have to be removed for her to survive.
They would not be able to get her married later.