40,000 children face blindness yearly

As many as 40,000 children face blindness every year in the country due to eye-related complications, including blindness-causing retinopathy of prematurity, said specialists.
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) was found to affect 23.7 per cent among premature and low-birth weight infants, speakers said at a scientific seminar referring to a BSMMU study.
ROP is an eye disease that can happen in babies who are premature (born early) - or who weigh less than three pounds at birth, according to the US National Eye Institute.
Health professionals said this at the seminar on ROP organized by the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
Neonatology Department Chairman Prof Dr. Kumar Dey presented a paper on "ROP: A Challenge for Intact Survival of Preterm Newborn" and Ophthalmology Department Prof. Dr. Nuzhat Choudhury presented a paper on "ROP: Blinding of Neonates."
This ROP disease can be seen in children when newborns are born before 35 weeks' gestation and weigh less than 2.0 kg, especially those who are admitted to neonatology or NICU for survival.
The special aspect of this disease is that no newborn is affected by this disease at birth. Even in the first 14 or 15 days of birth, the disease does not occur in newborns. When the disease is diagnosed, if not treated immediately and newborns can become blind, said the seminar.
Newborns weighing less than 2000 grams or born before 35 weeks should have an eye exam every 30 days, it added.
Unfortunately, no survey has ever been conducted on how many children are blind due to ROP among the entire Bangladeshi population. Due to the increase in premature births, eye problems are also increasing in them, which are now the leading cause of blindness in children.

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