Hyderabad:Â Health Minister Harish Rao said that Telangana was in the third position in the country in terms of government medical services.
He said that the government initiated the Kanti Velugu program for the prevention of blindness. He said that this scheme was a reassurance to the people who have lost their eyesight and the problem of retinopathy was serious among poor people. He urged the people to get their eye tests done. The minister said, “We have set a target to conduct tests for 1.54 Crore people in 100 days. Those who need reading glasses will be given a pair on the same day. About 30-35 lakhs of reading glasses and 20-25 lakhs of prescribed spectacles are likely to be required.”
Elaborating on the procedure, Harish Rao said that each team that conducts eyesight tests consists of one medical officer, one optometrist and two or three community health officers. He revealed that tests will be conducted with 1500 teams, each medical team will test 150 to 100 people per day, and medicines and spectacles have already reached all the districts of the state.
He directed the public representatives and officials to take steps to ensure that the people come according to the schedule, and to take steps to ensure that every house receives the Kantivelugu invitation letter. He said that camps would be monitored through Whatsapp. The minister suggested that the Adhaar card must be brought to Kanti Velam camps.The first phase of Kanti Velugu was started in August 2018 in Malkapur village of Medak district by chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. The minister informed that 50 lakh people have been tested and 51 lakh people have been given free spectacles in the first phase. “In the first phase, we brought spectacles from China. But this time we have bought spectacles from Telangana companies,” said the minister. (INN)