Increased digital screen time amid the COVID-19 pandemic has further increased the rising burden of preventable blindness in the country, said the All India Ophthalmology Society (AIOS). There is an immediate need to take preventive measures on a very urgent basis, the society cautioned.

"With changing lifestyle patterns and excessive usage of digital screens by people of all age brackets, there is an exponential increase in the number of patients suffering from mild to severe vision problems which are preventable or treatable," said Dr Mahipal Singh Sachdev, President AIOS & Chairman, Centre For Sight Group of Hospitals.