25.09.2023

At the international panel conference on Traditions and Innovations in Ophthalmology, which was held in Almaty on September 22-23, leading neonatal ophthalmologists of Kazakhstan confirmed that the increase in visual disability in premature newborns due to retinopathy has been stopped in Kazakhstan. This happened owing to the synergy of doctors, charity foundations and the RoK Ministry of Healthcare.

More than 22,000 premature newborns are born in Kazakhstan every year. 4,000 children are at high risk area for complete blindness who are diagnosed with a severe retinal disease — retinopathy of prematurity. As of September 2023, more than 3,100 or 78% of premature newborns at risk have already been diagnosed, of whom 927 children received timely medical care from highly qualified ophthalmologists that was provided to them within 24 to 72 hours.

Diagnosis of retinopathy of prematurity requires high professionalism of the doctor and availability of specialized equipment — ophthalmoscopes, retinal cameras, ophthalmic lasers. According to Magripa Yembergenova, Director of the Department of Maternal and Child Health Protection of the RoK Ministry of Healthcare, with the support of charity foundations, the problem of retinopathy of prematurity has been successfully solved in Kazakhstan:

“In order to reduce the level of disability of children from birth, we were faced with the most difficult task: to cover all premature newborns with ophthalmological screening in the shortest possible time with an acute shortage of diagnostic equipment. Thanks to the joint efforts of AYALA Charity Foundation and Kazakhstan Khalkyna Fund, all the needs for ophthalmoscopes received from requests of the regions have been successfully covered. If there are medical indications, children have laser correction treatment not only in Astana and Almaty now, but also in seven other perinatal centres in our country. This is a significant achievement for the country. It indicates a serious work to improve healthcare and preserve vision in children. Hopefully, the implementation of mass ophthalmological screening and laser surgery will ensure timely diagnosis and treatment of various vision pathologies in newborns,” said Magripa Yembergenova.

AYALA Charity Foundation has provided 16 medical centres of the country with ophthalmoscopes, 5 laser units and 5 retinal cameras. Synergy of energy and knowledge of ophthalmologists, charity foundations, and support of Kazakhstanis and sponsoring companies in just 1.5 years led to a tremendous breakthrough in preventing blindness in the country’s youngest citizens.

“Just a couple of years ago, hundreds of children lost their vision every year, never seeing the light and love in the eyes of their mothers. Parents had to repeatedly contact charity foundations with a request to send them abroad for treatment of retinopathy. Unfortunately, such treatment was not always successful, as at a very early stage, even in the first month after birth, precious time to stop retinopathy was lost. Now both diagnostics and laser coagulation of the retina in premature newborns are widespread in our country. An integrated approach has played a key role in stopping the retinopathy of prematurity epidemic. This includes professional development of more than 15 pediatric ophthalmologists, the approval of the National Clinical Protocol on Retinopathy by its main developer, Assel Usenbayevna Sharipova, Candidate of Medical Sciences, and provision of all perinatal Centres in Kazakhstan with the essential diagnostic and laser surgical equipment,”noted Aidan Suleimenova, Founder and President of AYALA Charity Foundation.

Thanks to DOM Public Foundation and Aruzhan Sain, work has been performed on for many years to provide international surgical care to children with more severe, almost irreversible forms of retinopathy. Skills improvement programs are organized for neonatal ophthalmologists in Kazakhstan and outside the country. For the first time, leading international-scale professionals in treatment of retinopathy of prematurity came to our country — Dr. Anand Vinekar, one of the developers of the unique KIDROP program, and Dr. Nikhil Pal, an outstanding international expert in vitreoretinal surgery in children. Indian experts drew attention to a professional solution to the problem of at the state level with the active participation of proactive doctors and support of charitable organizations.

“Retinopathy of prematurity is the most common diagnosis according to parents’ address to our Foundation in recent years. Over the entire period of its existence, our DOM has paid for 3,751 operations on 2,369 children, including 632 operations for retinopathy in the period from 2010 to 2023. Children are sent to clinics in Russia and India, where ophthalmological surgeons strive to preserve their vision. In Kazakhstan, doctors are working and promoting this issue at various levels, represented by Assel Sharipova, the initiator and headliner of the development of medical care for retinopathy of prematurity. These talented people detect the disease in a timely manner and perform operations on our youngest patients. The country receives invaluable assistance in the form of provision of the hospitals with the advanced equipment for diagnostics and operations from AYALA Foundation, for which they are deeply grateful,” said Aruzhan Sain.

Assel Sharipova, the initiator and developer of the Retinopathy of Prematurity Project believes that owing to the conscious participation and rational perception of this problem on the part of the parents of young patients, who trust the professionalism and qualifications of Kazakhstani pediatric ophthalmologists, the dedication of doctors, their readiness to overcome difficulties and develop, as well as owing to support of charity foundations, such phenomenal results in solving the problem of childhood blindness in our country have been achieved: “Only for this reason we were able to get the problem of retinopathy of prematurity off the ground and provide vision to almost every premature baby in Kazakhstan in such a short time.”