Dr.Abhishek Dixit

Abstract

We sought to assess the current status of ROP screening and treatment in private and government sectors of 4 districts of Central UP (Kanpur, Unnao, Kannauj and Fatehpur). A field survey in government and private NICUs was done during 6 months. Total number of NICU beds, admissions, low birth weight (LBW<2 kg) and preterm (gestational age <=34 weeks) infants, number of screening and treatment performed were noted. For 8000 annual NICU admissions, only 128 beds were available in Central UP. Out of 2560 live-births, 895 (34.9%) were preterm and LBW, demanding ROP screening. However, only 358 (~40%) were screened and 15% (54/358)) were advised for ROP treatment in Kanpur and Unnao. Contrarily, no screening was done in Fatehpur and Kannuaj. Questionnaire-based assessment showed moderate awareness among 212 health care professionals however parents were least aware of the disease. Inadequate awareness and lack of ROP screening warrants strategic screening programmes to avoid blindness.[advanced_iframe src="https://view.officeapps.live.com/op/embed.aspx?src=https://aiosproceedings.s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/2021/E-Poster/FP789.pptx" width="100%" height="608"]