World health organization (WHO) has launched ‘VISION 2020’ program for elimination of preventable blindness. Control of childhood blindness is one of the priorities identified as a part of this program. Evidence suggests that one out of every 1000 children is blind in India. Few important causes responsible for blindness in India are corneal scarring mainly due to vitamin A deficiency (26.0%, though reduced now), globe abnormalities (25.0%), cataract (12%) and retinal disorders (21.0%).
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vascular proliferative retinopathy seen in low birth weight premature infants. It is one of the leading causes of avoidable severe visual disability and childhood blindness worldwide. With increasing survival of infants due to the advancements in paediatric neonatology care, there is increase in the incidence of ROP in India and in low and middle income countries10-12. It is slowly emerging as an epidemic.
ROP has wide spectrum of presentation, ranging from mild transient changes, which regresses spontaneously, to more chronic and severe form like retinal detachment and scarring which are irreversible and can lead to total blindness.
Timely screening and early treatment, when needed, can prevent the progression of ROP to advanced stage in majority of these neonates. Management of ROP has evolved over last 2 -3 decades. Though surgery can be performed in the advanced stages of ROP, generally the overall visual prognosis is poor. Hence it is important to implement an effective screening program with appropriate referral and management protocol at the primary level. All ophthalmologists, neonatologists, obstetricians and other healthcare professionals must be made aware of ROP and its sight threatening potential.

Retina Summit is an annual meeting for retina specialists, an initiative of Shri Bhagwan Mahavir Vitreoretinal Services, Sankara Nethralaya Chennai, held in the month of July every year. The conference is unique in having a focussed theme for every meeting. Here we discuss and share the scientific knowledge from the basics to recent advances in diagnosing and managing vitreoretinal disorders. The 6th annual meeting, ‘Retina Summit 2024’, would focus on “Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)”. The Vitreoretinal department at Sankara Nethralaya is happy to join hands with Indian ROP society (iROP) as a part of its 8th Annual iROP Society meeting. The purpose of this conference is to bring together the retina specialists practicing in India and around the world to share their knowledge on this important and challenging topic of preventable childhood blindness.
Chennai is the biggest city in South India and the capital of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the Coromandel Coast, off the Bay of Bengal. It is known for its industrial, educational, cultural, commercial interests and traditional food. Chennai has tropical climate and average temperature is around 36 degrees in July.
Choosing the venue at our own Sankara Nethralaya premises, would be an opportunity to many of the delegates to visit ‘The temple of eye’ and also a home-coming for many of our alumnus.