VIJAYAWADA: As many as 70,41,988 schoolchildren in the State will undergo eye screening under the YSR Kanti Velugu scheme to be launched by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in Anantapur on Thursday.
On the occasion of World Sight Day, the State government has decided to launch the YSR Kanti Velugu scheme to provide free comprehensive quality eye care services to the entire population of the State. According to an estimate, 40 per cent of the population in the State are suffering from some or other eye related problems and 80 per cent of blindness is preventable and treatable.
The scheme will be taken up in six phases covering the entire 5.3 crore population of the State. In the first and second phases of the scheme, schoolchildren will be screened in both primary and secondary level from October 10 to 16 and from November 1 to December 31. Prescription of glasses or advanced treatment will be provided to the children diagnosed with eye problems in the second phase. Mass community eye screening will be taken up in the next four phases.
From the third to sixth phases, one crore population will be covered in each phase, which includes primary mass eye screening, prescription and distribution of spectacles, secondary and tertiary care management like cataract surgeries, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy etc. The State government will implement the third to sixth phases of Kanti Velugu from February 1, 2020 to January 31, 2022 with a gap of six months between each phase. The implementation of Kanti Velugu over a period of three years is estimated to cost Rs 560.88 crore.
