THURSDAY,
FEBRUARY 3,
2011
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Pediatric Cataract Initiative has announced
its inaugural small research grant recipients for treating and
preventing vision loss in children.
The Initiative, a partnership of the Bausch + Lomb Early Vision
Institute and Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), will
provide two research grants of US$50,000 each to:
- Lumbini Eye Institute to study
the cost and clinical effectiveness of a comprehensive pediatric
cataract surgery follow-up system in western Nepal and adjacent
northern Indian states. The outcomes are expected to have a
wide-ranging effect on follow-up regimens in developing nations
worldwide.
- Calabar Teaching Hospital to
investigate the burden and causes of severe visual impairment and
blindness among children in the Cross River State of Nigeria. This
is believed to be the first large-scale study of the root causes of
childhood blindness in Africa.
Launched in June 2010, the Pediatric Cataract Initiative is the
first dedicated global effort aimed at preventing and treating
cataract – a clouding of the eye’s natural lens –
in children so as to reduce childhood blindness. Causes of
pediatric cataract can include intrauterine infections such as
pregnancy rubella, metabolic disorders and genetically transmitted
syndromes.
“While the knowledge and techniques for diagnosis and
treatment of pediatric cataract are well known, there is a lack in
the understanding of factors that determine success of
interventions and factors that will enhance accessing
services,” said Dr. Gullapalli Rao, chairman of the Pediatric
Cataract Initiative Global Advisory Council and founder of the LV
Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, India.
The inaugural small research grant application was open to
clinicians and researchers around the world. Members of the
Pediatric Cataract Initiative Global Advisory Council, which is
composed of eye health experts from around the world, met in
December 2010 to review 16 small research grant applications from
countries including India, Cameroon, Nigeria, Nepal, Guatemala,
Kenya, the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.
"In children, despite the best cataract surgery, long term and more
frequent follow up is required because of changing refractive error
due to their constantly growing eyes and the special concern of
amblyopia, which is exclusive to children," notes Dr. Salma
K.C. Rai, principal investigator, academic director and ophthalmic
assistant training in-charge and consultant pediatric
ophthalmologist at Lumbini Eye Institute, Nepal.
"It is very important for the pediatric ophthalmologist and the
team to repeatedly stress to parents the importance of
follow up visits, at least in the initial few years following
pediatric cataract surgery. The seed needs to be sown at the right
time, and any delay will result in poor results," said Dr.
Rai.
“Receiving the grant will engage people in our region to take
more action towards eliminating childhood blindness,” said
Dr. Roseline Duke of the Calabar Teaching Hospital in Nigeria.
“At the end of our research, I hope to have restored good
vision to children who are affected by cataract, and integrated
those who have lost their vision into their schools and
communities.”
An estimated 1.4 million children are blind worldwide, 1 million of
whom live in Asia and 300,000 in Africa. The prevalence of
pediatric cataract in developing countries can be 10 times more
common than in developed nations.
Childhood blindness affects not only children, but their families
and communities for life. One study places the global economic loss
over 10 years of childhood cataract at between US$1 billion to US$6
billion.
The Initiative also intends to announce a major prevention and
treatment grant for a Chinese institution in the coming
months.
“Lions have long been dedicated to saving and restoring
sight, so this partnership is a natural for us. Dedicated research
that will help prevent blindness is a new area of great interest
for our Foundation, and one that will pay great dividends for years
to come,” said Wing Kun Tam, a member of the Global Advisory
Council and vice president, Lions Clubs International.
The Pediatric Cataract Initiative (www.PediatricCataract.org)
utilizes the resources of both Bausch + Lomb’s Early Vision
Institute and LCIF to identify, fund and promote innovative methods
of overcoming this challenge for the long-term benefit of children,
their families and their communities. For additional information,
visit
www.PediatricCataract.org or follow the Initiative at
www.twitter.com/PCInitiative and
www.Facebook.com/PediatricCataract.
SOURCE