CHILDREN OF LIGHT
Children are the future of this planet, and Sankar Foundation fully realizes their importance. The foundation believes in nipping the bud of blindness at an early age and is therefore focusing on the prevention of childhood blindness in the districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.
Activities:
- Correction of Refractive errors through prescription of spectacles to all needy children.
- Vitamin A supplementation to all the children between 9 months – 6 years.
- Health Awareness Programmes for Anganwadi workers in view of congenital cataract and Retinopathy of Prematurity.
- Counseling parents on the need for eye care.
- Human Resource Development: In view of the resource requirement, Sankar Foundation trains local PHC workers and the volunteers of various other NGOs, for the basic identification of eye diseases in children.
To combat Childhood Blindness, Sankar Foundation has started screening children through schools and Anganwadi centers.
So far, we have
screened a total of 83,496
children for refractive errors and eye
problems and 1469
children were issued spectacles with
resilens.
( Figures as on
30th April 2007)
Screening of pre school children:
To continue screening of children in vacations, Sankar Foundation has initiated screening of Anganwadi children who come under the umbrella of ICDS (Integrated Child Development Scheme). The ICDS Visakha-Urban has a population of 1,23,983, out of which 12800 are children below 6 years of age. The ICDS Visakha has been classified into 4 groups : Group I covers Godari Gothulu, Group II covers Indiranagar, Group III covers Gollapalem , Group IV covers Kancharapalem area. Visakha-Urban consists of 100 Anganwadi Centres manned by more than 100 workers in these centers.
How the programme was implemented:
- Prescreening by Anganwadi workers- Sankar Foundation has trained all the Anganwadi workers supported by Medical Officer and Project Officer of ICDS.
- Children with Squint, Cataract, Bitot spots, Refractive errors, Vitamin A deficiency, Corneal Scarring, Congenital Blindness, Night Blindness were identified and brought to the camp.
- All the children with various Eye problems were screened by both Medical Officer and refractionist of Sankar Foundation.
- Children with Refractive errors were prescribed and issued spectacles.
- Non-cooperative children with Hypermetropia and Children with eye conditions where a more detailed examination is required were referred to the Eye Hospital for further examination.
We need the encouragement and cooperation of every one of you to protect our Children, Our Future, from falling a prey to blindness. Any individuals or organizations interested in participating in this mission may e-mail us or contact us directly.
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