- Pacific
PAVAGADA (TUMKUR DISTRICT): Ramya was a bubbly child and attended school till she was
four. That was two years ago, when her vision began to deteriorate until she completely
lost sight in both eyes.
The little girl began to withdraw and sit quietly the whole day in her home in Pavagada,
180 km from Bangalore. Playing, meeting friends — everything came to a standstill.
She was diagnosed with Lamellar Congenital cataract — a condition wherein the eye
lens are damaged.
Ditto with 13-year-old Syed Wasim who can only hear what the teacher says in the
classroom. Retina degeneration set in and the boy lost his vision completely. There are
children in this taluk with the same disorder, like Lakshmi who is active till 6pm. After
that, she confines herself to her room and cuts herself from the world, doesn’t speak
to anyone because she cannot see anything after dusk. The practice of marrying close
relatives (consanguineous marriage) coupled with high fluoride content in water and
Vitamin A deficiencies is ruining the lives of children of this taluk.
Worse, parents wait till the child is nine years old to get her examined by a doctor.
“By then it is too late and the damage is done. It is crucial to treat any eye
disorder early and during the first few years of life. If left untreated, it cannot be set
right at a later stage,’’ says Dr K Vasudha, head, paediatric opthalmology,
Narayana Netralaya, Bangalore.
Alarmed by the pattern in eye diseases among children in Pavagada taluk and the increasing
cases of blindness, Narayana Netralaya, in collaboration with Narayana Hrudalaya and Shree
Sharada Devi Eye hospital and Research Centre in Pavagada, has begun one of the largest
studies on eye disorders involving 29,800 children. “When we noticed an unusual trend
in the disorders, we realized it must be a local problem. We’re studying the root
cause of the high incidence of child blindness. It could be multiple factors —
fluoride content, consanguineous marriages, etc.’’ medical director of Narayana
Netralaya Dr K Bhujang Shetty told STOI. (eethalakshmi S.e 20, 2010)