Surgeons run to create awareness

Shamshabad: It was a lighter moment for a greater cause when surgeons from all over the world participated in ‘KeraRun’ here recently. The event was held as part of ‘Keracon 2017’, the annual meeting of Cornea Society of India and organised by Tej Kohli Cornea Institute.

Flagged off at 6am, the hourlong 5K run circumvented the road towards the Srisailam Highway along the Hyderabad Airport complex and culminated at Novotel Airport. The run witnessed participation from over 500 delegates including 25 international faculty, such as the Presidents of the Cornea Society of India, Asia and the World along with several other leading cornea surgeons from India and abroad.

Speaking on the sidelines, a surgeon said, “It is estimated that there are 285 million people worldwide who are visually impaired. Corneal blindness is estimated to be the second most prevalent cause of blindness in many less developed countries.

Globally, bilateral corneal blindness is estimated to afflict 4.9 million persons and accounts for 12 per cent of 39 million blind, utilizing WHO 2010 global blindness data. The global breakdown illustrates the particularly heavy burden of corneal blindness in emerging and developing countries, with 98 per cent of bilateral corneal blindness existing outside of developed countries.”