15.03.2023

The first retinal camera of a new type in Kazakhstan appeared in Semey. Modern diagnostic equipment worth more than 26 million tenge was purchased with the sponsorship of Halyk Bank and is already helping to save premature newborns in the Abay oblast from complete blindness.

Immediately after installation at the Oblast Perinatal Centre, 15 children were examined on this retinal camera, with two of them diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity of the first stage, one child had an aggressive form of retinopathy of prematurity, and the dynamics of two children after transpupillary laser coagulation of the retina are monitored.

3nethra neo retinal camera donated by AYALA Foundation with the support of Halyk Bank, is significantly superior in its technical characteristics to its analogues operating in Kazakhstan. This is the first camera of a new type that is being donated to a medical institution in Kazakhstan. In India, this equipment is installed in 250 medical centres. In addition, it is actively imported by France, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain.

“Halyk Bank pays special and close attention to charity issues and improving the quality of life of Kazakhstanis. We are very pleased that the Semey Oblast Perinatal Centre received a retinal camera for newborns with our support. Hopefully, this will help to detect pathologies in time, cure them and enable babies to see the world in bright colors, and will also bring joy to their parents,” commented Gulzhakhan Baiterekova, head of the Halyk Bank branch in Semey.

The 3nethra neo device was developed in India and in just a few years has helped that country solve the problem of the epidemic of retinopathy in premature newborns. It allows an ophthalmologist to diagnose a child even in intensive care conditions and when the newborn is connected to a ventilator and this is not possible with other units. This retinal camera is easy to use and combined with a laptop, storing in it, rather than in its internal memory unit, all information about small patients, photos and video documents diagnosing their retinopathy.

“An ophthalmologist at our Perinatal Centre can now work with the results of ophthalmological screening in any convenient place and quickly exchange data in case of remote consultations with colleagues to develop further tactics for patient management. The retinal camera helps assess the child’s condition based on daily constant monitoring. The unit is portable, lightweight, allows to take images with one hand, and the camera displays the fundus of eye in a natural pink color. We express our deep appreciation to AYALA Foundation and Halyk Bank. Owing to the donated equipment we will do everything possible in our Centre to save premature newborns from blindness,” said Arkat Kudaiberdyevich Dairbekov, Director of Abai Oblast Perinatal Centre.

Since 2022, AYALA Charity Foundation has donated a full set of ophthalmological equipment for the diagnosis and treatment of retinopathy (forehead ophthalmoscope, laser and retinal camera) worth more than 45.4 million tenge to Abai Oblast Perinatal Centre, as well as 10 vials of Lucentis for treatment fulminant forms of retinopathy. Thanks to this assitance, not a single child in Abai oblast went blind.

According to Kazakhstani doctors’ data about 40% of babies born prematurely suffer from retinopathy, an eye disease that leads to irreversible loss of vision in premature newborns. To save them from complete blindness, a complex diagnostics is required as early as possible. The doctors of the Oblast Perinatal Centre located in the city of Semey have such a possibility now.

“The danger of retinopathy is that there are no external signs of the disease. Only a specialized and trained ophthalmologist using special equipment can see the early manifestations of this disease. Until 2022, the provision of Perinatal and Research Centres of Kazakhstan with equipment for early screening of retinopathy suffered from very serious shrotcomings, as it was only installed in 4 centres. Thanks to the efforts of our Foundation, 14 medical institutions in the country have already been equipped with it. This helped increase the coverage of newborns with ophthalmological screening in Kazakhstan by almost 11.8%, increase the detection of retinopathy in premature babies by 20.6%, and conduct by 34.3% more operations for laser coagulation of the retina for retinopathy. Ophthalmologists were able to save the vision of thirty children, including 21 children through the administration of Lucentis, also purchased by our Foundation,” stressed Aidan Suleimenova, founder and president of AYALA Charity Foundation.