Designing Access: Women-Led Eye-Care for Last Mile
Women-Led Rural Eye Care System
Akhand Jyoti redesigns rural eye care in Bihar by transforming girls from low-income families into trained optometrists and socialchange agents. Over 845 women trained, leading decentralized vision centers, hospitals, center of excellence, bridging doctor-patient gaps and overcoming gender and social barriers. Our human-centered system integrates last-mile screening, referral, and affordable surgery to prevent avoidable blindness. By restoring sight, we unlock livelihoods, dignity, and economic mobility, reducing state's disease burden while redesigning access for underserved communities at the last mile.
Akhand Jyoti uses human-centered service design to transform eye care access at scale. Be removing barriers of distance, cost and trust, its decentralized model empowers women providers as community-facing change agents, reshaping healthcare access while restoring sight.
WINNER STATEMENTWinning the iF SOCIAL IMPACT PRIZE is a deeply encouraging moment for all of us at Akhand Jyoti, India. It validates our belief that empowering rural and vulnerable girls can transform communities. The Prize will help us strengthen this work and take our message of “Sight, Dignity & Opportunity” to more girls and families around the globe.
Design