Reach eye care to rural areas: Governor

Three eye clinics, which will offer Lasik procedures for various vision problems, were commissioned on Saturday by Governor K. Rosaiah. Part of Maxivision Eye Care Hospital, they will function from Chamiers Road, Anna Nagar and Ashok Nagar here.

Inaugurating the clinics, Mr. Rosaiah said that the lack of knowledge and lethargy caused vision loss, but better awareness among the rural population could reduce vision loss caused by cataract and refractive errors.

He urged non-governmental organisations and eye hospitals to jointly organise regular camps to promote better eye care.

“Organising regular eye camps and cataract screening camps are imperative. The NGOs, government and ophthalmic doctors and eye hospitals should join together in organising such camps and in promotion of eye care.”

Maxivision now has nine branches in Andhra Pradesh. According to its chairman G.S.K. Velu, Maxivision Eye Care Hospital had so far treated nearly 2.4 million people and performed around 1.75 lakh eye surgeries.

While the Chamiers Road and Ashok Nagar clinics are operational, the one in Anna Nagar would be ready by February. The clinic on Chamiers Road has the combo Lasik suite, a technology that offers a solution to presbyopia for the over 40 years age group requiring reading glasses, said Kasu Prasad Reddy, who introduced the Lasik procedure in the country in 1996. Lasik surgeries are now offered to persons between the age of 19 and 60, Dr. Reddy told reporters after the inauguration.

In myopia, the power increases as a child grows and ophthalmologists wait for the power to stabilise before advising the procedure. The usual precautions including keeping off the computer for a prescribed period after the surgery must be followed though the surgery itself is an outpatient procedure.

However, around 25 per cent of those who seek Lasik surgery for correction of refractive errors in the below 40 age group are not suitable for treatment as their corneas may not withstand the surgery. But even for this group, solutions are available.

In Chennai, Maxivision planned to offer technological solutions for a variety of eye disorders, including treating post-Lasik problems, Dr. Reddy added.