Haiti-No More Blind Babies

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) affects babies born prematurely or less than 32 weeks gestational age. It is a devastating blinding condition and affects babies’ retinas. The retina doesn’t develop normal blood vessels until full term. So babies born prematurely have undeveloped retinas and bad blood vessels grown on top of the retina and detached it, leaving babies blind for life. BUT, careful screening and treatment can prevent the condition.

Diagnosing this condition requires trained eye care providers who can perform indirect ophthalmoscopy and detect his condition. The best solution for training and guiding exists in a special camera dedicated to photographing the retinas and providing immediate remote feedback. Retivue has developed such an innovative camera. The cost of the camera is $25,000.

My retina colleague, Daniel Alter MD, from Midwest Retina Consultants is 2/3 of the way to our goal of “No More Blind Babies” in Haiti. I admire Dan as he has been traveling back and forth to Haiti for the last 10 years and remains committed to training a retinal specialist (Dr. Pierre Luc Dupuy) and funding the equipment there needed to making a difference. We need $7K more to make a difference. If the funds come from one of our patients then I will travel with Dan in February 2020!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many places where we can donate and pay it forward. We believe that also supporting our passionate colleagues to achieve goals that we know will make an immense difference is important. You can donate via Red Rover Ventures or directly to to Dan via his 501c at https://1focus.org/

 

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