Call for awareness to prevent blindness from ROP
Speakers at a scientific seminar have stressed the need for greater awareness among healthcare professionals and parents about retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a potentially blinding eye condition affecting premature babies.
They said timely screening and treatment of preterm newborns could prevent vision loss and childhood blindness caused by the condition.
Renowned neonatologist Prof Dr Mohammad Abdul Mannan and ROP and retina specialist Dr Tariq Reza Ali, both of Bangladesh Medical University, presented two scientific papers at the event titled “Scientific Seminar: Screening and Management of ROP” held in the capital on Monday (28 September).
Neonatologists, doctors and nurses working in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) at different health facilities attended the programme organised by Orbis International, in cooperation with Bangladesh Medical University and the Bangladesh Neonatal Forum.
Prof Abdul Mannan said babies born before 35 weeks of gestation and weighing less than two kilograms are at risk of developing ROP.
“If the eyes of the preterm babies are not screened between 20-30 days of their birth and managed timely, the babies might lose vision,” he said.
He stressed that raising awareness among healthcare professionals, particularly neonatologists and those working at NICUs, as well as parents, is crucial to combating ROP.
Prof Mannan said he himself was unaware of ROP when he started his career as a neonatologist, underscoring the importance of improving knowledge about the condition among healthcare providers.
He urged neonatologists to properly counsel parents of preterm newborns, telling them that failure to take their babies to health facilities for ROP screening within 20-30 days of birth could result in permanent vision loss.
Referring to different surveys, he said around 600,000 babies are born prematurely in Bangladesh every year, while 20-30 per cent of those screened are found to have ROP.
Dr Tariq Reza Ali said the incidence of ROP in Bangladesh has increased with a sharp rise in the survival rate of preterm babies.
The development, he said, calls for greater efforts to ensure timely eye screening and proper management of ROP among premature newborns.
Orbis International Country Director Dr Munir Ahmed said counselling parents of newborns is critically important for raising awareness about ROP screening and management.
He stressed coordinated efforts among neonatologists, ophthalmologists, nurses, parents and healthcare institutions to ensure that premature babies receive timely screening and treatment and are protected from avoidable vision loss.
Prof Dr Khaled Noor, Head of Neonatology of Bangladesh Medical College, delivered the address of welcome at the seminar. President-elect of the Bangladesh Neonatal Forum Dr Begum Sharifun Nahar and Hospital and neonatologist from BRB Hospitals Dr Nazmun Nahar also spoke at the seminar.