Free Diabetic Retinopathy screening

On occasion of World Diabetes Day, the 13th annual Project RADAR (Radhatri Nethralaya Diabetic Retinopathy Project in Association with Rotary), an annual month long free Diabetic Retinopathy screening for the public was launched on Oct 28 at Radhatri Nethralaya. The Rotary 3233 district governor Rtn. Devendran was the chief guest and actress Sanchita Shetty was the guest of honour. The dignitaries released pamphlets to promote awareness on Diabetic Retinopathy to be distributed amongt the public. This project is spearheaded by Rotary club of Chennai Towers.For the first time in India, a novel Virtual Reality (VR) platform and Kiosk was dedicated to the public by the dignitaries. Dr. Vasumathy Vedantham, Medical director, Radhatri Nethralaya said that this was a public awareness initiative by Radhatri Nethralaya to make caregivers of patients understand what patients with retinal problems experience, which would improve empathy and follow up of patients. The Kiosk will also be used to allay the fears in the minds of patients especially with regard to treatment and intraocular injections, she added. She gave a presentation on Diabetic Retinopathy and demonstrated the VR platform to show how vision could be impaired in diabetic retinopathy.Dr. Praveen Krishna, Medical director Radhatri Nethralaya, reiterated the fact that for every five years of diabetes, the incidence of diabetic retinopathy is doubled and hence diabetic patients should get their eyes examined at least once a year and gave an outline of the month-long free camps with a new artificial intelligence (AI) based retinal camera to detect diabetic retinopathy in urban slums, parks etc.Students of Optometry were certified as “Youth Vision Ambassadors: Yuva Nethra Jyotis” for spreading awareness of blinding eye conditions in the public and received certificates from the chief guests.Diabetic patients can register themselves for a free eye checkup to rule out Diabetic retinopathy throughout November 2025 at Radhatri Nethralaya, 12, Hindi Prachara Sabha street, T. Nagar, between 9 am to 10.30am. Patients can call 94454 38681 to register and are requested to bring their latest blood sugar report when coming for consultation.