‘Tackle vision problems in children through outreach’
B.V.S. BHASKAR
US-based Indian ophthalmologist Dr. V.K. Raju felt that most vision-related problems in children could be solved through outreach programmes and interventions before the age of five. He said initiatives like teachers’ training in basic ophthalmology and screening by paediatricians at regular intervals were needed for rural children.
Dr. Raju said one-third of middle school children dropped out of schools owing to lack of health care and malnutrition problems in rural India, and that most surveys by WHO foresaw that the trend was set to rise in the coming years.
“Train more ophthalmologists in India. Involve teachers and NGOs in tackling paediatric health issues, particularly vision loss. Eighty per cent of learning is through vision, while 50 per cent of childhood blindness is avoidable through prevention or treatment,” he said.
Dr. Raju said diabetes and its complications would be the worst in developing nations. Diabetic blindness may become 15 times worse than cataract blindness. Most cataract blindness cases are in old people, whereas diabetic blindness can affect young individuals.”
No comments:
Post a Comment