A study, conducted by ORBIS International, an international non-profit & sight-saving organisation and FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, has revealed that parents in Maharashtra are not aware or have limited knowledge about child blindness.

The study, 'Gauging parental awareness of paediatric ophthalmologic problems', was conducted in January 2007 among 1703 parents in four cities of the State, Mumbai, Pune, Miraj and Jalna.

Addressing the press persons, Dr G V Rao, country director, ORBIS India, said, "The study showed that 20 per cent of the children surveyed suffer from some form of eye diseases. Of the parents surveyed, many were unaware of the signs of eye diseases in the children, and of the most appropriate forms of treatment."

He stated that India has the highest number of children with blindness or visual impairment, half of which could be prevented or treated. ORBIS is addressing the problem head-on with the support of FedEx and other committed organisations, by setting up 50 paediatric eye-care centres in India by 2010. Each centre is expected to serve approximately 20 million people, Dr Rao added.

According to the ORBIS study, the research found that the most effective ways of preventing or reducing the severity of childhood blindness was to have regular eye-exams, protect children's eyes when involved in sports, and ensure that the children received correct nutrition, specifically vitamin A. Parental awareness could also help reduce the incidence of eye problems.

Four-paediatric eye care centres of Maharashtra, Lotus Eye Hospital, Mumbai, H V Desai Eye Hospital, Pune, Sri Ganapati Nethralaya, Jalna and the Lions NAB Eye Hospital, Miraj supported the study, which was undertaken by the Centre for Research and Education (CREED), Hyderabad.

The report was handed over to Dr R M Kumbhar, assistant director general (Ophthalmology), National Programme for Control of Blindness and director general of health services, Government of Maharashtra at the function.