L V Prasad Eye Institute and Chota Bheem Team's Children's Eye Program

Online, November 14, 2013 (Newswire.com) - On the occasion of Children's Day on November 14 and as part of National Newborn Week (Nov 15-21), Jasti V Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Center at L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), organized "Eyes Baby Eyes" an interactive session with their little patients and families to discuss some of the common childhood eye problems, the importance of diagnosing these problems early and their management. Problems such as proper check-up of eyes of newborns, refractive errors, lazy eye, squint or strabismus, cataracts in children, corneal problems, pediatric eye cancer, pediatric glaucoma, retinal problems in children, low vision and eye nutrition were discussed in detail.

Green Gold Animation and Green Gold Store, the makers of the hugely popular 'Chota Bheem' cartoon series are supporting LVPEI in this initiative. Much to the thrill of the children gathered on the occasion, the Green Gold group presented one of their popular cartoon characters 'Mighty Raju' the mascot, for the first time ever; along with 'Kalia' the mascot from the very popular cartoon serial 'Chota Bheem'. The posters detailing the day's program were earlier posted to the Facebook pages of both Green Gold and LVPEI.

Dr Ramesh Kekunnaya, Head - Jasti V Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Centre, L V Prasad Eye Institute said, "LVPEI is always looking at new ways of engaging with children, patients and families in order to raise awareness about preventing and managing eye diseases. The basic idea of this program is to create awareness about the multiple eye problems that can affect young children and to educate parents and caregivers about the need to have preventive eye care and to seek prompt care."

LVPEI has marked out specific days along the weeklong observance of National Newborn Week to focus on advocacy regarding specific eye disease conditions among newborns and infants.
November 21st is being marked as Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) Day. Dr Subhadra Jalali, Head - Smt. Kanuri Santhamma Retina Vitreous Centre, L V Prasad Eye Institute said, "Premature born babies are at very high risk of blindness within few months of birth. Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is time bound and there is 95% cure if diagnosed and treated early within few weeks of birth. All premature and low weight babies are at risk and it is imperative to create awareness at the neonatologists and pediatricians' level to make retinal/fundus examination for ROP at 20-30 days of birth mandatory for all high risk babies."

She further added that LVPEI is working closely with the AP government and works in partnership with many private and government hospitals in the state to train the staff to handle such cases. "LVPEI is the only centre in the world running a dedicated one month hands-on training program in ROP and has trained more than 300 specialists and treated close to 10,000 babies. We are also proud to say that our Twin Cities are one of the very few cities in the developing world to have a city wide program," Dr Jalali added. 'Tees Din Roshini Ke'' is the slogan needed for premature babies.

Diabetic Retinopathy Patient Educational Forum will be on November 16th to coincide with the week of November 14th World Diabetes Day. Dr Padmaja Kumari Rani, Consultant, Smt Kanuri Santhamma Centre for Vitreoretinal Diseases, L V Prasad Eye Institute said, "We aim to raise awareness regarding the importance of lifestyle modification for diabetics who are at risk, through good glycemic control, hypertension and lipid management, along with screening for Diabetic Retinopathy by fundus examination annually, which is essential for preventing blindness and visual impairment caused due to Diabetic Retinopathy."

About L V Prasad Eye Institute

The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) was established in 1986-87 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 namely Clinical Services, Education, Research, Rehabilitation and Sight Enhancement Services, Eye Bank, and Public Health and Rural Outreach. For more information, visit www.lvpei.org

For further information, please contact:
Dr Sreedevi Yadavalli
Associate Director and Head - Communications
Tel: +91 040 23547254, +91 040 30612555
Email: [email protected]