India Vision Institute (IVI) has launched a For Our Children campaign during August to focus attention on children’s eye health.

“It is important that children undergo routine eye examination by a specialist. A good practice is to get the examinations done before the academic year starts. It is to be taken into consideration that 80% of blindness is preventable and early intervention is vital,” IVI’s CEO Vinod Daniel said. 

Focusing on the importance of routine eye examination in children to detect early warning signs for eye diseases, the month-long campaign will undertake awareness drives and disseminate messages on social media. 

“Weekly webinar series on topics of discussion will be oriented towards child eye health and safety. As part of the awareness drive, we will have images with key messages posted on our social media platforms - Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter,” Mr Daniel added.

The campaign will, among other eye health issues, focus on Leukocoria, an abnormal white reflection from the retina of the eye. The first webinar of the month will be organised in collaboration with The Know the Glow Foundation, a non-profit working on Leukocoria. The ‘Glow’ usually identified with flash photography or in family photographs warrants a specialist visit at the earliest for proper diagnosis and further management.  The webinar interaction will help in understanding more about the condition and about its prevention.

The webinar organized in collaboration with  Know the Glow Foundation will feature Dr Jesse Berry, Associate Director of Ocular Oncology and Attending Physician, Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, Dr Swathi Kaliki, Head, Department of Ophthalmic Plastic & Facial Aesthetic Surgery; OEU Institute of Eye Cancer, LV Prasad Eye Institute, and Ms Megan Webber, Co-Founder, Know the Glow Foundation.

Children’s vision has been a focus of IVI’s projects and campaigns. IVI’s Eye See & I Learn campaign has been in the forefront of vision screen school children. Eighty percent of what a child learns is through visual perception and of all children screened, nearly seven percent require a pair of glasses.  IVI has, since 2012, conducted some 850 vision screening camps across India, screening over 250,000 children and providing free spectacles to around 27,000 children.