WORLD PREMATURITY DAY

Every year on November 17, World Prematurity Day is marked globally to raise awareness of the 15 million babies born early & the impact it has on families. Being born preterm also comes with the risk of Retinopathy of Prematurity & blindness. But what is Retinopathy of Prematurity and what can we do about it?

What Is Retinopathy of Prematurity?

Babies born at a very early gestation can develop Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) where blood vessels grow abnormally and uncontrollably causing damage to the light sensitive layer of the retina.

In the worst case scenario this can lead to bleeding and scarring that can pull the retina away from the wall of the eye (retinal detachment) putting the baby at risk of becoming blind.

As the leading cause of childhood blindness worldwide, it's particularly prevalent in Latin America & South East Asia where more premature babies are being saved, but few hospitals have the skills & resources to deliver the care needed. This is where our eye teams around the world are stepping in to help enhance the quality of neonatal care and treatment for infants.

Retinopathy of Prematurity in Numbers

15 MILLION BABIES

Born prematurely each year

32,000 PRETERM BABIES

Become blind or visually impaired each year

41% OF CHILDHOOD BLINDNESS

In Latin America is due to ROP

8200 PRETERM BABIES

At risk for ROP in Peru each year

How Orbis Is Fighting Retinopathy of Prematurity

With the right awareness, knowledge and equipment, ROP is entirely preventable. Thanks to your support, our eye care teams are working with local health partners globally to save babies and infants from a lifetime of blindness by:

Training and innovation:

Through our global projects, our expert volunteers are providing invaluable training to more health workers to better understand and treat ROP, both in-person and online through our telemedicine platform Cybersight.

Collaboration:

Working with our long-term partners around the world, we have helped scale up resources and strengthen capacity in hospital neonatal units to prevent, diagnose and treat ROP.

INFANT EYE CARE IN PERU

Our partnership with Instituto Damos Vision has seen a 50% decrease in the number of hospitals classified with poor Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) standards in Lima and Northern Peru.

By providing technical assistance for NICUs we have helped improve the delivery of care for premature babies. A report confirms that these improvements have occurred by providing better infrastructure, treatment and training - particularly with improvements to the delivery of oxygen therapy.

Working with communities:

At community level particularly in Peru, our partners are improving awareness about the eye disease by educating mothers around the condition.

On World Prematurity Day, we'd like to pay a special thanks to all of our volunteers, partners and supporters, who have enabled us to improve the quality of eye care for premature babies through our projects across the world.

With your ongoing support, we've been able to ensure more babies grow up free from blindness and visual impairment.