NEW DELHI, Feb 21: A two-day online symposium was held with experts from multiple countries, including India, South Africa and the US, to raise awareness on children’s eye health, organisers said.
The event began on Thursday evening as many health experts, scholars, optometrists, among others joined from California in the US and other locations.
Titled ‘Child Eye Health Symposium: A Call to Action’, the event seeks to help shape the future of child eye health, while building awareness on the crucial issue, they said.
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One School at a Time, Berkeley Vision; India Vision Institute (IVI); OneSight Essilor Luxottica Foundation; and UNICEF are partnering in this initiative, a representative of the organisers said.
One School at a Time is a programme of Berkeley Vision — Every Child Sees, designed to make eye care and low vision services accessible globally to all children. It is under the umbrella of the University of California, Berkeley.
Children today will be adults tomorrow, and thus an early intervention would mean protecting or correcting their eyesight before the condition aggravates, the representative said.
A large number of child eye health experts, public health specialists, and other delegates had registered for the symposium that will focus on the urgent need for addressing related challenges and finding solutions, organisers said.
India Vision Institute (IVI) is coordinating the conference.
Since 2012, IVI has been working to provide access to primary eye care services for underprivileged people and a pair of corrective glasses to those in need across the country.
It runs two campaigns — ‘I See, I Learn’ (for children) and ‘I See, I Work’ (for adults) to build awareness and provide help to people with eyesight issues.
In October 2023, vision screening camps were held for several members of the Irula community of snake-catchers and honey-gatherers, and of the transgender community in Tamil Nadu to reach out to marginalised sections of society. (PTI)
