Tag: ENTOD Pharmaceuticals

Health

World Sight Day: ENTOD Pharmaceutical to Organise Free Eye Check-up Camp

Oct 18, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Consultant Ophthalmologist (Pune) & Medical Consultant, #Dr. Aarti Heda, #ENTOD Pharmaceuticals, #Executive Director of ENTOD Pharmaceutical, #Nikkhil K Masurkar, #World Sight Day

New Delhi– On the occasion of World Sight Day, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals has conducted around 30 free eye check-up and cataract camps across different locations. Apart from offering free screenings to people, the campaign will raise awareness on the importance of eye health, diseases that can occur and even offer free medication samples to people.

Raising awareness about the importance of regular vision screening is crucial in India where poor vision affects nearly 550 million people and costs the economy US$37 billion every year in lost productivity. The situation is adversely impacted by low awareness regarding the seriousness of the issue and limited access to proper vision care, especially in rural areas. Cultural stigmas, misconceptions and myths surrounding glasses also prevent people from seeking the treatment they need.

Speaking about the initiative, Nikkhil K Masurkar, Executive Director of ENTOD Pharmaceutical said “Irrespective of how much you care for your eyes, there are times when you tend to miss certain symptoms which can lead to dry eye, red-eye, eye rashes or other eye problems. Though the minor problems can cause very little damage to the eyes, some can lead to vision loss, gradually. Keeping in mind the severity of the issue, we are conducting free eye check-up and cataract camps across different locations on the occasion of World Sight Day. ENTOD will be responsible for arranging the camps, providing necessary support to the doctors, arrange awareness or talk sessions and provide eye medicine samples to be delivered to the public for free. With the support of our 400 fellow workers on the ground for this latest campaign, we will ensure that more people attend the campaign and inform them of the importance of eye health and regular check-ups.”

There will be two types of camps to be organised for the event – OPD camp and cataract camp. While the OPD camp will be held for general eye diseases like glaucoma, dry eyes, red eyes, etc. the cataract camp will address the concerns of people who have eye issues like blurry vision which results from the formation of cataracts. Both government and private hospital ophthalmologists will be a part of the initiative.

“ Visual impairment deters the ability to perform daily tasks independently and the majority of the causes of visual impairment are treatable Sadly, awareness in the general public regarding early detection and prevention of eye diseases is very low. A significant number of people with blindness or visual impairment are above the age of fifty years, the most common causative factors being cataract, glaucoma refractive errors and diabetic retinopathy. Regular consultation with an ophthalmologist can identify the cause for visual impairment in time and timely intervention can help the patient get the vision back or at least prevent further loss of vision. With the help of the community outreach camps, we would like to spread awareness and knowledge regarding the common eye diseases . Such awareness programs could lead to better understanding and acceptance of the importance of routine eye examinations for the early detection and treatment of common eye diseases, thereby reducing visual impairment in the society” said Dr. Aarti Heda, Consultant Ophthalmologist (Pune) & Medical Consultant, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals

Apart from conducting eye check-up camps, to further spread the message on the importance of eye health, regular check-ups and precautions to be taken, ENTOD will be sharing video recordings from young ophthalmologists on their YouTube channel ‘Eye Health by ENTOD’ on World Sight Day. Young ophthalmologists will share their views on what needs to be done to avoid critical eye problems.Eye donation is another area of emphasis for ENTOD for which they have tied up with Dr S Natarajan (Padmashree Awardee and Director of Tele Ophthalmic Society of India) and created the website, Pledge My Eyes (https://www.pledgemyeyes.org/).

Business

National Eye Donation Fortnight: India sees sharp drop in corneal transplant by 52% during COVID-19

Sep 8, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Dr Rakesh Shah, #EBAI Chairperson - West Zone & Ophthalmologist / Eye Surgeon, #ENTOD Pharmaceuticals, #Executive Director, #Mr. Nikkhil K Masurkar

Delhi- According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) approximately 15 million people in India are blind, out of the 45 million people across the world. Also, the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) estimates that every year around 25,000-30,000 new cases of corneal blindness occur in India. Blindness is a major health concern for India and its prevalence is further exacerbated by low availability of eye donors. In most cases, corneal blindness is curable with corneal transplantation.

Corneal transplant, a surgical procedure to replace part of your cornea with corneal tissue from a donor, has reduced by approximately 52% during COVID-19 pandemic. When the COVID-19 outbreak began last year in March 2020, corneal tissue retrieval was temporarily halted, putting corneal transplants on hold. According to EBAI (Eye Bank Association of India), the number of corneal transplants has reduced to 12,998 between April 2020 to March 2021, while 27,075 corneal transplants were conducted in the previous year.

India requires a minimum of two lakh eye donations annually however, the present number stands at a meagre 45,000. Supporting the National Eye Donation Fortnight which is observed from 25th August to 8thSeptember every year, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals is organising a series of activities across India to create about the importance of eye donation and to motivate people to donate their eyes after death.

ENTOD Pharmaceuticals, one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in the Ophthalmic ENT segments across India and other countries has created an online website https://www.pledgemyeyes.org/in collaboration with the Eye Bank Association of India (EBAI). Through this website anyone can pledge their eyes from the comfort of their home in just 2 simple steps and make a visually impaired person’s life brighter.

Supporting the cause, Mr Nikkhil K Masurkar, Executive Director, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals, said, “Eyes donated by a person can help restore vision in 2 corneal blind people. Lack of awareness and myths associated with eye donation prevents people from donating their eyes.Any person can donate their eyes irrespective of sex, age, religion or blood group. Therefore,on the occasion of the National Eye Donation Fortnight, we urge people to come forward and pledge their eyes. Out of 15 million blind people in India, 6.8 million have corneal blindness, with vision less than 6/60 in either of the eyes. Near about 1 million people are blind in both eyes, and this bilateral corneal blindness can be reversed. Eye donation usually takes place only after the person is deceased, and with the consent of the family, so it is important that not only the person pledging the eyes is aware of its importance but the entire family is educated about the needs to do the same too.”

“In India there are almost 70 lakh patients suffering from corneal disease, 12 lakh patients require corneal transplant and 2 lakh are suffering from corneal blindness in both the eyes, so immediate corneal transplant is required for them. In India, before covid, we used to get around 55-60 thousand eye donations and we successfully completed 30-35 thousand corneal transplants. Every year 35-40 thousands new patients suffer from the same issue. Our goal is to achieve at least 1 lakh eye donations per years, so that more corneal transplants can be done, around 50-60 thousand. India can do better in this and have the potential to lead the entire South Asia. We need to encourage and motivate the people in our society towards the importance of eye donation. If we all come together for this noble cause, then achieving1 lakh corneal transplant/harvesting is not that difficult.” explained Dr Rakesh Shah, EBAI Chairperson – West Zone & Ophthalmologist / Eye Surgeon.

To create increasing awareness and motivation of eye donation in India, ENTOD Pharmaceuticals has come up with a YouTube channel “EYEHealth” where eye donation appeal videos by prominent doctors are uploaded. The videos are also available in different languages so as to help people from different regions of the country gain knowledge about the significance of eye donation.

Dr Shah also informed that even when patients die of other ailments like heart disease, in non-Covid deaths, there are some suspicions on whether Covid infection is present in the cornea. RT-PCR testing takes time but we are on the side of caution. Number of corneal donation comes down to zero whenever a Covid wave peaks.

ENTOD is conducting two virtual program under the aegis of EBAI west zone on 3rd and 5th Sep’2021 for the general public to talk about eye health and emphasize on the need for everyone to donate their eyes.