Leading physicians and health experts have observed that awareness can save numerous babies from blindness caused by Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) that affect more than one-fifth of the preterm babies.
Speaking at a discussion in the capital on Sunday, they said that not only ordinary people, physicians too lack awareness about the disease. Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB) and Orbis International organized the discussion titled ‘ROP Prevention and Treatment in Bangladesh’.
Prof Abdul Mannan from Neonatology department at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University (BSMMU) said most of the doctors do not refer preterm babies to retina specialists as they do not know many of the babies can lose vision unless their eyes are screened and given treatment within four weeks of birth.
Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) President Prof Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, PIB Director General Zafar Wazed, Obstetrical and Gynecological Society of Bangladesh President (OGSB) President Prof Sameena Chowdhury, Secretary General Prof Saleha Begum and former president Prof Rowshan Ara, Bangladesh Nari Sangbadik Kendra President Nasimun Ara Huq, and Orbis International Director Programs Mohammed Alauddin also spoke at the discussion.
BSMMU Associate Professor Nuzhat Choudhury and Orbis International Senior Medical Specialist Dr Lutful Husain presented two papers at the event. Prof Shahidullah said Bangladesh has been able to attain tremendous progress in the health sector in last several years due to the cooperation, which he called marriage, between the government, development partners and professionals.
Zafar Wazed said the media have contributed greatly to the creation of awareness among people about many health issues and now they need to work for raising awareness about ROP. Dr Lutful Husain in his keynote presentation said over 100,000 of the children born in Bangladesh every year face the risk of blindness and can lose vision for the whole life if their eyes are not screened timely and they are not given proper treatment.
Prof Sameena Chowdhury said ROP issues need to be included in health polices and efforts should be made to defer preterm birth to combat the disease. Prof Rowshan Ara and Nasimun Ara suggested increase in government’s health budget and its proper use for addressing health issues. According to ophthalmologists, ROP is a vaso-proliferative disorder affecting the avascular retina of babies who are born premature -- before 34 weeks of gestation.
They said if a baby is affected with ROP, his/her eyes have to be screened and its necessary treatment has to be begun within 28 days of birth, otherwise the baby can be blind.
