Screening of Retinopathy of Prematurity: A Neglected Public Health Issue

Sir, One of the prime causes of blindness in premature and preterm infants is retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) as determined in vision 2020 program.[1] As globally the number of blind children figures to 1.4 million with 75% of them from third world countries, the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness targets ROP for prevention of blindness and treatment in an effort to reduce the prevalence of childhood blindness.[2] In developing countries with a human development index of 31-100, ROP is emerging as a major cause of blindness. Globally, at-least 50,000 children are blind as a result of ROP and an additional unknown number will be visually impaired or blind in one eye.[2] As per WHO, 1 million blind children are in Asia, 0.3 million in Africa, 0.1 million in Latin America and 0.1 million in the rest of the world[3]