The free eye check up camps under Kanti Velugu programme of the government are likely to see a higher turnout of patients across the State from Monday with rains receding.
In three days since the launch of the programme on August 15, about three lakh patients were screened at 824 camps. Saturday and Sunday were holidays for the camps and they will resume on Monday, according to Director of Public Health and Family Welfare G. Srinivasa Rao who is supervising the programme.
The programme suffered a setback on Friday with the death of a 72-year-old woman when she was about to be operated for cataract at the branch of a noted private hospital at Kothur near Shadnagar. Doctors had administered local anaesthesia to the woman and were preparing to conduct the surgery when she suffered a heart attack. She died in another hospital at Shadnagar.
Dr. Rao said the programme had a positive impact on people aged above 50 years as they turned up in large numbers for eye related problems. Long sight, refraction impairment and cataract were commonly identified problems at the camps. The rains, particularly in Adilabad and Khammam, hampered the programme.
Though eye donations were not the focus of the programme, people voluntarily came forward to handover papers pledging donations. The programme was mainly to create awareness about eye care. The government aimed to distribute 40 to 50 lakh spectacles.
The government has deputed 900 medical officers, 1,000 optometrists and 8,000 supporting staff for the programme. About 96,000 camps were planned over a period of five months.
