Hospital Based Program on Paediatric Ophthalmology

Well known opthalmologists carried out surgery on 55 children during a three day free eye care programme organized by Kalinga Eye Hospital and Research centre. (KEHRC), Dhenkanal here."As many as 55 free paediatric eye surgery operations were conducted during the camp. This apart, 117 children were screened and detected to be in need of specialized eye treatment, “said Dr Rasananda Gadnayad, the chief medical officer of KEHRC.

The children were aged between 13 months and 15 years. They belong to poor and poverty stricken families and had developed cataract and squint at early age, necessitating the surgeries, said Dr. Gadnayak.

The patients were mainly from Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Cuttack, Deogarh, Jajpur and Kandhamal districts. Mumbai - based child eye specialist Dr. Mihir Kothari and paediatric ophthalmologist of KEHRC Dr Chandrasekhar Sahoo carried out the surgeries.

According to Dr Gadnayak, if the condition of the eyes of such patients was allowed to remain so, it could have led to amblyopic. “If treatment of a child’s eye condition, mainly low vision, is delayed for years during childhood, complete restoration of vision may not be possible at later stage and it may lead to amblyopia,”he said.

The hospital sources informed the similar type of eye screening camp and seminar will be conducted from 15 to 18 January 2015.

KEHRC is one of the institutional members of ‘Vision-2020-India supporting Child’s Right to Sight.