Of the 10,392 pre-term babies who were screened for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in four States in the country, 1,970 were detected with the eye disease which could lead to blindness. Of them, 317 were treated with laser.
ROP is a potentially blinding eye condition which affects pre-term infants. Those born at or before 34 weeks gestational age or weighing less than 2 kg at birth are at greater risk.
The screening and subsequent treatment in the four States were taken up as part of a pilot initiative of the Union Ministry of Health, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust and partners.
Pilot project
Results of the five-year pilot project implemented in Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh from October 2015 to April 2019 were presented at a media conference at HiTec City here on Tuesday.
In the case of Telangana, a total of 3,480 pre-term babies were screened and 464 were detected with some form of ROP.
Of them, 143 were provided treatment, thus avoiding blindness. The screening was taken up at Gandhi Hospital, Niloufer Hospital and district hospitals in Nalgonda and Sangareddy.
‘Make screening mandatory’
The importance of making ROP screening for pre-term babies mandatory by State governments was stressed at the conference. “The important thing to note is that vision is responsible for 70% of cognitive development of a baby. If that strong sense is absent right from birth, cognitive abilities do not develop the way they are supposed to,” said Ranjan Shukla, principal co-investigator, Diabetic Retinopathy and Retinopathy of Prematurity (DRROP) project, on the sidelines of the conference.
All-round implications
Blindness from ROP has economic, legal as well as social implications for affected children, their families, governments and civil society, he added.
G.V.S. Murthy, director of Indian Institute of Public Health, PHFI-Hyderabad, said 606 paediatricians were trained to prevent ROP. Sensitising mothers that ROP screening has to be taken up for pre-term newborns is part of the training.