Pediatric Ophthalmic Experts at L V Prasad Eye Institute raise awareness on Childhood Eye Problems, by participating in an awareness walk

Hyderabad, 12^th November, 2017: “Good Eye Sight - Every Child’s Right” is the theme for Children’s Eye Care Week being hosted by L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), this year. As part of the Week, LVPEI, hosted an awareness walk to sensitize the public regarding children’s eye health, on Sunday from LV Prasad Eye Hospital to Jubilee Hills Check post and back. Children from different schools participated in the walk, joined by a large number of doctors and public. Chota Bheem was present to cheer the children. The focus of this year's awareness campaign is on Lazy eye and Strabismus or squint in the eye and the need for early eye screening and detection amongst children.

Often children have problem of Lazy eye, where the vision in one eye is weaker or blurred. This usually goes undetected unless the parents take initiative to get the eyes of the child screened. The problem could manifest by way of one eye having good or 100% vision and the other with weaker, 80% or even lesser vision. The causes for Lazy eye could be crossed eye, cataract. If detected early it can be corrected by making the child put on a patch on the eye with good vision for a few hours every day. This strengthens the vision of the eye with poor vision, said Dr Ramesh Kekunnaya, Head, Child Sight Institute & Jasti V Ramanamma Children’s Eye Care Centre, L V Prasad Eye Institute . 

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 behavioural development.

Dr Ramesh Kekunnaya said “Every minute one child goes blind in the world, if we save them we save 33 working years of that person. Two-third of the child blindness is preventable with very early detection, therefore every new born should get eye screening which is very important, or within the first year of birth eye screening should be done. Also eye screening should be made mandatory at the time of school admission, these measures can bring down the incidence rate. Paediatric Cataract is a cause for this, 10 to 15 children of every 10000 live births are born with cataract, it's very important that they are treated surgically and for that early detection is crucial. 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. Cataract can also be seen in children which needs special skills and care. Early detection and treatment mostly in the form of surgery is crucial. Every parent is as much responsible for getting new born eye screening done.”

About L V Prasad Eye Institute

L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) was established in 1987 at Hyderabad as a not-for-profit, non-government, public-spirited, comprehensive eye care institution. LVPEI is governed by two trusts: the Hyderabad Eye Institute and the Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation. The Institute is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness and a Global Resource Center for VISION 2020: The Right to Sight initiative. LVPEI has six active arms to its areas of operations: Clinical Services, Education, Research, Rehabilitation and Sight Enhancement Services, Eye Bank, and Public Health and Rural Outreach. For more information, visit www.lvpei.org