Hyderabad, 12th January 2018: L V Prasad Eye Institute's Tej Kohli Cornea Institute is launching an Eye Care Helpline, Call Netra, a toll free number - 18002002211 to provide quality eye care advice and referral support. Anyone with an eye care problem can call this number to receive expert advice and to locate the nearest eye care provider. All eye related queries and doubts can be clarified by calling a single number - 180020 2211.
L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), one of the leading eye Institutes in India is launching this service for the benefit of people living in rural areas. "In most parts of rural Andhra Pradesh, people who require eye care often suffer from poor accessibility, lack of infrastructure and availability of healthcare systems. Non-availability of expert advice leads to inadequate diagnosis and thus results in delays in seeking a solution," explains Dr Jagadesh Reddy, Faculty, Tej Kohli Cornea Institute.
Through Call Netra 18002002211L awareness about eye diseases will be created in the rural areas and any one can receive first level of medical advice by dialing the toll-free number for an eye problem. The caller will be provided details of the nearest eye care providers in their vicinity and treatment options. Nellore and Prakasam districts are the first ones to have this facility and this will be later be extended to the entire states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and eventually to the whole country.
"Though there are treatment options available for many diseases at secondary and tertiary centers, patients continue to suffer due to non-availability of a proper referral system. For example, people who are unable to see due to cornea, retina or glaucoma problems often fail to reach experts due to inadequate diagnosis done at the first point of care and the absence of a transparent referral system," explains Mr. Ramam Atmakuri, Executive Vice Chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute.
In Call Netra, trained eye care providers will segregate the callers depending upon their eye condition as Critical and Non-critical. Critical patients are immediately referred to the nearest eye care providers. Non-critical patients, based on their type of ailment, will be given information about various hospitals in the vicinity and will be provided with awareness messages to help prevent eye disease.
Today on 12th January 2018, Call Netra 18002002211 was dedicated to the people of Nellore and Prakasam districts by the Hon'ble Vice President of India Shri. Venkaiah Naidu The Hon'ble Vice President of India Shri. Venkaiah Naidu during his address encouraged the people of Nellore and Prakasam districts to make use of Call Netra to eliminate avoidable vision loss.
About L V Prasad Eye Institute:
The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) was established in 1986-87 at Hyderabad as a not-for-profit, non-government, public-spirited, comprehensive eye care institution. LVPEI is governed by two trusts: the Hyderabad Eye Institute and the Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation. The Institute is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness and a Global Resource Center for VISION 2020: The Right to Sight initiative. LVPEI has eight active arms to its area of operations - Clinical Care, Education, Research, Vision Rehabilitation, Rural and Community Eye Health, Product Development, Eye Banking and Innovation. For more information, visit iNww.lvioei.org
