Pediatric Ophthalmic Experts raises awareness on childhood eye problems at LVPEI
Hyderabad, November 15th, 2015: Cartoon character Mighty Raju flagged off the walk organised by L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) to raise awareness about childhood eye problems as part of the Children’s Eye Care Week being hosted by the Institute from November 14 to 19, 2015; on Sunday at LV Prasad Eye Institute. Dr. G. Chandra Sekhar, Vice Chair, LVPEI, Dr Ramesh Kekunnaya, Head, Children’s Eye Care; Dr Subhadra Jalali, in charge of Retinopathy of Prematurity, LVPEI; Children, Doctors, paramedics, patients and walkers participated in the walk.
“Good Eye Sight – Every Child’s Right” is the theme for Children’s Eye Care Week at L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) this year. On the occasion of Children’s Day on November 14th, World Prematurity Day on November 17th and as part of Children’s Eye Care Week (November 14-19), LVPEI is organizing a number of activities to raise awareness on children’s eye health.
In order to sensitize the public regarding children’s eye health, LVPEI is organizing a ‘Children’s Eye Health Walk’ on Sunday, 15th November. A large number of people are expected to join in the Walk, which will start from the institute campus.
“Eyes Baby Eyes”, an interactive session on 19th November, is meant for little patients and their families to discuss some common childhood eye problems, the importance of diagnosing these problems early and their management. Problems such as prevention of blindness in prematurely born and newborn babies by appropriate eye examination soon after birth, early surgery for childhood glaucomas and cataracts, detailed eye examination of newborns if a family member such as parent or sibling has eye problems, early examination of children who have crossed eyes or squint or ‘shaking of eyes’ will be discussed in detail. In addition, our Children’s Rehabilitation team will interact with parents of visually challenged and specially-abled children.
As part of the week-long program, LVPEI is also organizing a poetry writing competition and painting contest, for children to express their creativity, from 14th – 19th November.
It has been estimated that as much as 80% of the learning in a child occurs through his or her eyes. A child’s eyes are constantly in use in the classroom and at play. The most common vision problem is nearsightedness or myopia. However, some children have other forms of refractive errors like farsightedness and astigmatism. In addition, the prevalence of eye focusing, eye tracking and eye coordination problems may also hinder a child’s behavioral development.
Dr Ramesh Kekunnaya, Head, Jasti V Ramanamma Children’s Eye Care Centre, L V Prasad Eye Institute, said “Engaging with the family is the best way to ensure that the young child gets all the care and attention required for good eye health. We, at LVPEI, understand this and focus on involving a large team to create awareness about the multiple eye problems and also to educate parents. Good vision is a key and because vision may change frequently during school years, regular eye and vision care is important.”
Dr Subhadra Jalali, in charge of the Retinopathy of Prematurity program at LVPEI, emphasized the slogan ‘Tees Din Roshni Ke’ (‘Thirty days to vision’) to raise awareness on preventing avoidable blindness in preterm born babies by ensuring retinal examination within 20-30 days of birth.
