In the 1980s, cataract was the major cause of blindness in India and was responsible for 80% of all blindness. This prompted the Indian government to launch a national cataract control programme, which succeeded in lowering the prevalence of blindness from 1.49% to 1.1%. In addition, by 2000, this programme had reduced the proportion of people blind due to cataract from 80% to 62%.Aravind Eye Hospitals contributed to a third of all cataract operations in the state of Tamil Nadu during the last two decades and played a major part in lowering the rate of blindness in that state. By 2000, the prevalence level of blindness was just 0.78%, compared to the national level of 1.11%
