An initiative by Sankara Eye Care Hospital (Bangalore and Shimoga) in association with Sightsavers International UK, the programme aims to provide free medical and surgical treatment for 3,00,000 underprivileged children over the next three years.
Nanna Kannu has an objective to provide preventive and curative eye care to children between 0 and 18 years from government recognised schools and shelters. The project’s focus will be on children from economically weaker sections hailing from the districts of Bangalore, Bangalore Rural, Chamrajnagar, Ramanagara, Mysore, Chikkaballapur, Tumkur, Kolar and Mandya.
Those with irreversible blindness or low vision should have the same rights and access to services as their sighted counterparts, enabling them to play an active role in society said Founder and Managing Trustee of Sankara Eye Care Institutions, Dr R V Ramani.
The programme hopes to rope in officials and teachers in Education Department to enable them to screen children in government schools and shelters. “We need to identify teachers for every 1,000 students as volunteers whom our institution will train on vision screening and basic identification of eye ailments,” said Chief Medical Officer, Sankara Eye Hospital, Dr Umesh Y.
Dr Ramani also announced that for the first time under one roof, comprehensive Ocular Oncology care will be made available along with eye care services. Currently at the Pediatric Oncology Centre at the Hospital, chemotherapy and surgical oncology cases are taken up while those which require radiation and other facilities are referred.