Mysore, February 3rd, 2010: Sankara Eye Hospital (SEH), Bangalore & Shimoga in association with Sightsavers International (SSI), UK, today organized a panel discussion on ´Common Eye Problems faced by Children‘ in the city today. Dr S Halkatti, Joint Director, Dept of Ophthalmology, Govt. of Karnataka, Dr Kaushik Murali, Director Nanna Kannu, Dr. Madhu Kumar, Consultant, Retina and Ocular Oncology Services, SEH and Mr. Srinivas, CEO, National Association for Blind, Karnataka presented their views and observations. The discussion highlighted the success of Public-Private Partnership in eye-care delivery throughout Karnataka through the National Programme for Control of Blindness. It also focused on common eye ailments in children, prevalence of retinoblastoma, and difficulties faced by visually challenged children and mainstreaming them in education and society. Panelists shared their thoughts on how early diagnosis could prevent serious ailments among children. The discussion also focused on how parents could identify symptoms of eye troubles, stages and diagnosis of eye cancer among children. It is noted that chances of treating eye cancer and saving life among children is high if treated early.
All the eye experts pointed out the importance of understanding the behavioral pattern of a child as it can help the parent to identify the child‘s problem easily. The common symptoms faced by children such as Myopia, Lazy eyes, Monocular vision (vision in one eye), Squint, Cataract, some Retinal Ailments can be prevented through early detection. They also stressed on the need for regular comprehensive eye examination for all children to detect and treat visual ailments.
The event also saw the screening of an Animation Film ´I Learn What I See‘, which pointed out how a small problem like Myopia or nearsightedness could affect the psyche of a child and his/her performance, if left untreated. This in turn also influences the impression the child has on others.
According to Dr Kaushik Murali, Consultant Ophthalmologist and Director Nanna Kannu, SEH, “Various interventions have shown vision problems to affect approximately one in 20 preschoolers. They also affect one in four school children. Though usually treatable, without early detection and treatment, children's vision problems can lead to: permanent vision loss and learning difficulties.
We have a comprehensive eye care programme for children called the ´Nanna Kannu‘ Program. The project aims to provide preventive, curative and rehabilitative eye care for deprived children across Karnataka. SEH has until now reached more than 31,000 children who have been screened for eye problems and provided with further treatment and rehabilitation wherever necessary. This initiative will now spread out to other parts of the state in order to serve many more needy children.â€
According to Dr. Halkatti, Joint Director, Dept of Ophthalmology, Govt. of Karnataka,“The National Programme for Control of Blindness is the most successful Public Private Partnership in the field of healthcare. It is the responsibility of all stakeholders including Governmental Agencies, NGO‘s, Doctors, parents and teachers to be aware of the possible symptoms of vision problems, and assist the children to improve their vision as this can have an impact all aspects of the child‘s life.â€
Mr Srinivas, CEO NAB Karnataka pointed out that, “The NAB Karnataka Chapter has been in the forefront of providing care to the blind for over 3 decades. We are happy to associate with Sankara Eye Hospital and Sightsavers International in ensuring that all Children identified in the programme are provided means of Integrated Education and have the confidence to stand Shoulder to Shoulder with their Sighted Counterparts.â€
The Ocular Oncology Department at Sankara has treated the largest number of children with ocular cancers in the state of Karnataka in the past year. Under the leadership of Dr. Mahesh Shanmugam we are currently offering surgical care and chemotherapy and would upgrade our facilities to provide brachytheraphy (radiation treatment) in the coming month , said Dr Madhu Kumar,Consultant , Retina and Ocular Oncology Services.
The panel discussion is a part of ´Nanna Kannu‘, a comprehensive eye care programme for children in Karnataka. The Institution aims to screen 300000 underprivileged children with the support of Various Governmental Agencies, school teachers and local organizations. Sankara Eye Care Institutions provides quality eye care under the ´Gift of Vision‘ outreach eye care programme which has benefited many including children in Mysore district.
About Sankara Eye Care Institutions: With 8 state-of-the-art eye hospitals in Coimbatore, Guntur, Krishnankovil, Bangalore, Shimoga, Anand, Pammal and Silvassa, Sankara Eye Care Institutions delivers quality eye care at its State of the art eye care facility. The organization also reaches out proactively to the community through the “Gift of Vision†rural outreach eye care program. So far it has conducted 7,594 free weekly eye screening camps, and performed in excess of 525,000 free eye surgeries. For more information you can visit www.sankaraeye.com.
The ´Nanna Kannu‘ initiative was launched in association with Sightsavers International & Government of Karnataka to reach out to underprivileged children in Karnataka to screen and treat them for eye diseases. This program is also partnered by National Association for Blind Karnataka. The initiative hopes to benefit over 300, 000 children over the next three years. www.sankaraeye.com/nannakannu.htm.
About Sightsavers International, UK: Sightsavers International is a registered UK charity that works in more than 30 developing countries to prevent blindness, restore sight and advocate for social inclusion and equal rights for people who are blind and visually impaired. There are 45 million blind people in the world, 80% of all blindness can be prevented or cured. Since 1950, Sightsavers has restored sight to more than 5.65 million people and treated over 100 million. For more information you can visit www.sightsavers.org
For editorial queries only, contact Smriti / Ravi of PRHUB @ 9886424590/ 9343832039/[email protected]