The National Rural Health Mission in association with Kashyap memorial Eye Bank and Jharkhand Education Project Council would soon treat childhood cataract patients and enable them to continue their school education. State Health Minister Ramchandra Chandravanshi on Wednesday said that he had a consultation with the NRHM Director and a consensus has been reached to such effect.
Chandravanshi was speaking in a special camp at Angara Block of Ranchi district organized by Jharkhand Education Project Council; Women Doctors Wing IMA, Jharkhand and Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank (A charitable wing of KMEH), where 500 kids were checked up for their eyesight. Those with problems in eyesight, vitamin A deficiency, cataract, eye infection etc were brought to the camp.
The Minister thanked JEPC; Women Doctors Wing, IMA, Jharkhand and KMEH for holding the camp where kids were checked up and free medicines were distributed. He said that kids who have been marked from all 19 blocks of Ranchi districts will be taken to Kashyap Memorial Eye Hospital (KMEH) by JEPC and NRHM would facilitate their surgery at the KMEH on July 14,15,16 and 17.
Founder Director of KMEH Dr Bharti Kashyap said on the occasion that childhood cataract surgeries have been going on at the KMEH since long. With the help of JEPC screening, spectacle distribution and surgeries of kids from all blocks of Ranchi were conducted in 2007-2009. Also, in 2010 cataract surgeries were done with the help of SBI. In 2013 and 2014 surgeries of kids from naxal affected Palamu and latehar regions were also conducted, she added.
“We have conducted free eye check up of over 17 lakh students of government schools and districuted glasses to thousands. Hundreds of kids were brought to KMEH and cataract surgeries were performed to open their doors for formal education,” said Dr Kashyap. Over 1.44 million kids suffer from blindness in the world out of which maximum are poor and are girls. The government needs to take up the challange and provide treatment to the kids to superspecialty hospital facilities.
School Education and literacy department Area Officer Pramod Prasad; District Incharge, Inclusive Education, Amarendra Kumar; Coordinator of Block Resource Centre, Chandreshwar Pandit alongwith resource teachers and para teachers played a crucial role in the programme where 352 kids underwent eye checkup, out of which 75 were found with refractive error, three were found with cataract, two were found with Ptosis and 15 were found to be suffering from allergic conjunctivitis.