Senior citizens get an eyeful at camp

CHENNAI: In a bid to increase awareness of the importance of getting eye check-ups, students from the Elite School of Optometry and Sankara Nethralaya undertook an awareness campaign in Ashok Nagar area. Beginning with a skit for early-morning walkers in the local park, the group also went to almost 800 homes as part of their door-to-door campaign.Considering it was World Optometry Day, it was ideal that the group took it upon themselves to reach out to senior citizens, urging then to get their eyes checked and also screen themselves for diseases like diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.To make the initiative more effective, they also set up a retinopathy screening inside the Anjaneyar temple there. According to the Principal of the School, Dr Krishnakumar, 108 senior citizens were screened; 23 of them had a retinal disorder of some sort, while six had marginal diabetic retinopathy. They have also set up, as a permanent fixture, reading scales in Tamil, so that people can evaluate their eyesight themselves by standing at a particular distance. “We hope to establish many more such centres,” he said.