Panaji: On the occasion of Doctors Day, the Indian Medical Association, Tiswadi branch, under the leadership of Dr Anand Dalvi, in partnership with Mukta Dhristi Foundation, owned by Mr. Kishore Sarsolkar, flagged off an ambitious Free Eye-Camp project, aptly named Bal Netra Chikitsa, to determine the “Screen-Time” effect on Children, due to Online Classes and excessive use of mobiles/computers during the covid pandemic.
They have undertaken a brave initiative to screen all school children from 1st to 10th standard in every school in Tiswadi taluka to start with, both public & private schools, including Government schools covering approx. 31,800 children. The eye check up campaign will continue till November 2022 and after that, they plan to extend their services to every district in Goa.
A well equipped mobile van has been procured specially for this project and will transport state of the art opthalmic equipment to the schools along with their team of trained Optometrists and opthalmic assistants to conduct eye testing on all students. Those found with refractive error, will be provided spectacles free of cost. The camps will be supported at the schools by the honorary services offered by IMA TISWADI members, renowned Opthalmologist Dr Pradeep G Naik, ex Dean of Goa Medical College and Dr Tanvi Raiturcar, who will supervise the operations and examine students needing more specialised examination and have also offered Free service at their clinic. Cases needing more advance Eyecare will be referred to GMC where the Opthalmic Team, under able guidance of Dr Ugam Usgaonkar, and his team namely Dr Dipti Srivastava, Dr Aparna Naik, and Dr Manasi Prabhudesai will examine cases needing more corrective action.
The inaguration ceremony of Bal Netra Chikitsa at Dr. K B Hegdewar school was honoured by Chief Guest Dr Rufino Monteiro, IMA Goa State President, Dr. Shekhar Salkar and other IMA doctors.
In line with our country’s innovative program to create a Unique Health ID and provide cloud storage for all patients Health Records, IMA TISWADI and Mukta Drishti Foundation have made a humble effort to digitise the entire operation using the latest award winning software that would be connected directly to advanced Portable Instruments using AI for eye examination and all data captured will be stored on the cloud directly from the Instruments into each patients record, thus avoiding any human errors. The data can be simultaneously accessed by remote specialist doctors if needed as well as students and their parents by downloading an App.
IMA Tiswadi & MDF hope to make Goa, India’s first Digitally Smart Healthcare State, by taking on bold initiatives to even the remotest villages in not just EyeCare but also other areas where Medical Facilities need attention.
