Retinopathy of Prematurity: An emerging and evolving challenge

The World Health Organization has identified retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) as an emerging cause of childhood blindness in developing and middle‐income countries. It is becoming a major public health problem in developing countries such as India and China. ROP blindness in India is increasing due to the highest number of preterm births in the world (3,519,100),[1] suboptimal neonatal care, lack of awareness, screening and treatment programs not in place, and increasing numbers of Neonatal Intensive Care Units and Special New Born Care Units opening all over the country. On the top of it, heavier and more mature preterm infants are developing severe ROP due to variable quality of neonatal services.[2,3] Due to this, all infants weighing ≤2000 g or ≤34 weeks of gestation need to be screened according to the most recent Indian screening guidelines.