In our eorts to avert blindness in its earliest stages, we initiated the Mission Nayan programme that provides interventions for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) for neonates from socio-economically challenged backgrounds at no cost to these families. Retinopathy of Prematurity is a blinding disorder caused by abnormal development of retinal blood vessels in premature neonates. Around 30% of the neonates in a neonatal intensive care units (NICU) can be aected with ROP and almost 10% of them can go completely blind if they don't reach an eye specialist within 30 days of birth and undergo laser treatment within 2 to 3 days of the diagnosis.
MISSION NAYAN Interventions focusing on Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) among neonates.
Premature children often require other medical treatments aside of ROP screening. With the mounting costs in treatment, ROP screening is often neglected either due to the additional costs or because of lack of awareness. Understanding the criticality of the situation, Mission for Vision launched the Mission Nayan project in September 2018. The Mission Nayan project is currently being implemented in Ahmednagar, Navi Mumbai, Satara, Jalgaon and Buldhana through our hospital partners H.V. Desai Eye Hospital and K.B. Haji Bachooali (KBHB) Charitable Ophthalmic and ENT Hospital. In order to ensure there is greater awareness on ROP, the project builds the capacity and skills of healthcare providers and frequently conducts awareness sessions for parents as well. 22
