AMARAVATI: The Andhra Pradesh government is launching a health scheme, 'YSR Kanti Velugu', on World Sight Day on Thursday to provide comprehensive eye care and rectify vision defects among the State's over five crore population.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will formally launch the scheme in Anantapuramu.
Under the scheme, the government will bear the entire cost from preliminary eye check-up to surgeries wherever required for the entire 5.40 crore population, a release from the Chief Ministers Office here said.
"This is a revolutionary scheme in the health care sector. The governments objective is to ensure healthy eyesight for all citizens," the release added.
Over 70 lakh school children would be covered under the scheme in the first two phases from October 10.
In the first phase, preliminary eye screening would be conducted on all students in government and private schools for a week.
Children found to be having vision defects would be provided advanced treatment in the second phase from November 1.
A task force headed by the Collector would monitor the programme in each district, the release said, adding thousands of health and para-medical staff would take part in the programme.
The third phase of YSR Kanti Velugu will begin on February 1, 2020 where the rest of the state population will be covered, spread over three other phases in the next three years.