Born too soon

Operation Eyesight is partnering with hospitals to eliminate blindness among newborns due to Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). ROP is one of the major emerging causes of childhood blindness and has reached epidemic proportions in India.

ROP is a disease of the eye affecting prematurely born babies generally having received intensive neonatal care, in which oxygen therapy is used on them due to the premature development of their lungs. It causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina, the layer of nerve tissue in the eye that enables us to see. 

India has the largest numbers of newborns in the world, approximately 30 million each year. It also has the largest numbers of preterm and low weight births each year (about 15% of all newborns).

Our campaign, “Born to Soon” will bring comprehensive eye care and screening to newborns at risk and will help make ROP a thing of the past in India.

Using a specialized tele-ophthalmology platform, we will screen newborns at risk of ROP in select Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) across the country. Thanks to leading-edge technology, certified ophthalmic technicians and experts will be able to provide remote diagnosis and referral for at-risk infants and their families, without the need to visit a hospital. Infants who are diagnosed with ROP will receive referral to our partner hospital for further testing and treatment. Typically, premature infants should receive screening within the first 30 days of life. 

Our goal is to screen 1,000 infants for ROP and we expect to treat 50 infants for this debilitating condition. This is all made possible through the generosity of donors.

Together, we can strengthen India’s neonatal health care system and bring quality, affordable and accessible eye health care to families who need it most.

Future for families – Vinit know just how frightening Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) can be. Last summer, his wife Anchal gave birth to two premature twin girls. Thanks to early intervention by our ROP screening programs, the disease was caught and treated in both baby girls while they were receiving care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), preventing childhood blindness.

Because of this early intervention, Vinit and Anchal’s daughters are thriving today. “I feel so lucky to know [about ROP] at the right time,” Vinit says. “If we had delayed a month, then there would be no possibility of a cure.”

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