Children's Day Celebration at Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya, Guwahati

Guwahati: Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya (SSDN), a centre of excellence in Eyecare has been offering its services to various ocular diseases with a dedicated Paediatric Department to the population of Assam and Northeast India. The institute has made exemplary academic contributions in the field of research, innovations and clinical diagnostics both nationally and internationally.

This year Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya celebrated the Pre- Children's Day on 13th of November to offer gratitude towards the young patients and their parents, focusing on the awareness of various Paediatric eye diseases.

Mrs.RinikiBhuyanSarma, Managing Director of Pride East Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. graced the occasion as the "Chief Guest" of the function held at the Auditorium of Institute of Ophthalmology, Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya.

Mrs. Sarma who has been contributing innumerable social causes for the upliftment and betterment of the society, thanked the institution for working relentlessly for its dedicated service to the people of the Northeast.

It was an honour to have Mrs. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma ma'am as the Chief Guest of Pre-Children's Day celebration at Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya, Guwahati.

Mrs. Riniki Bhuyan Sarma Ma'am Inaugurated the "Innovation Club" of SSDN on the eve of Children's Day.

Dr. Harsha Bhattacharjee, President and Trustee of SSDN in his speech mentioned about the objectives of today's meeting:

i) To educate public on various issues related to children's eye health

ii) Celebrate and enforce achievements of humanity

iii) Advocacy to mobilize political will and resources; and

iv)To promote togetherness, awareness and improving children's eye care welfare in order to create a better world for the children suffering from blindness and different ocular elements.

"The mission of the community ophthalmic service of our institution is 'last man connectivity and avoidable blindness free village'. Under this mission we adopted 1151 villages out of which 202 villages have been made free from avoidable blindness" Dr. Harsha Bhattacharjee said.

"Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya is not simply an eye hospital, it is a dedicated ongoing mission for sight across Assam and Northeastern states since 1994. We are thankful for the kind and benevolent support from the government and non-governmental organizations and individuals" He further added.

Dr. Kasturi Bhattacharjee, Director (Clinical& Academics), SSDN elaborated on the prevalence and incidence of childhood cancers emphasizing specially on Retinoblastoma being the most common eye cancers in the young children below the age of 2 years. Though fatal if left untreated, early diagnosis and prompt treatment can salvage not only the life and the eye but can also restore the sight. SSDN has been actively working towards creating awareness, early screening and management of this d/s as India has the highest number of affected children in the world.

SSDN has also been an active contributor in various research projects being undertaken by Indian Council of Medical research for formulating a unified approach in the diagnosis and management of Retinoblastoma in the country.

Dr. Damaris Magdalene,senior consultant of Pediatric Ophthalmology of SSDN spoke on the journey of the Paediatric Ophthalmology Department of Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya.

Speaking on the event Dr. Nilutparna Deori, Paediatric Ophthalmologist of SSDN has spoken elaborately about the Paediatric Ocular diseases with great emphasis on Paediatric Cataract and Myopia. She specifically spoke about the lack of awareness among the parents & care givers of children suffering from Paediatric Cataract. The disability adjusted lives of these children has a huge impact on the social, economic and psychological well-being of the child. With the ongoing pandemic & digitalization of academic platform for children there is a huge burden of myopia among the children as well as the adults. It needs no mention that Myopia has become the next epidemic.

Also on the 3rd Anniversary of the myopia control clinic, Dr. Nilutparna Deori presented statistical evidence of screen time on Myopia.

During the event a skit was played by the Optometry students of SSDN where the importance of early intervention and treatment of Paediatric eye diseases were highlighted.

The function ended with a vote of thanks from Dr. Nilutparna Deori.

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