DAVAO CITY Oct. 20- Filipino-American pop
star Allan Pineda Lindo or more popularly known as Apl de Ap thru his
Apl foundation donated a brand new retinal diagnostic equipment to the
Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
Apl de Ap, founding member of the Grammy award
winning group Black Eyed Peas graced the turn-over of the Retcam TM Shuttle
diagnostic equipment held yesterday (October 20) at the SPMC in Davao City.
The Retcam is a pediatric retinal imaging system
used to screen premature babies for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), an
affliction among premature born infants that can cause blindness if not
addressed within 48 hours of birth/diagnosis.
Dr. Pearl Camesis Villalon, chair of the ROP
Working Group of the Philippine College of Opthamology said that ROP us the
common listed cause of visual impairment among blind children in the country.
Thru the Apl Foundation’s The Campaign for
Filipino Children , the first health initiative on addressing ROP aims to
create local capacity in the medical community and also to create awareness
about ROP.
Among the collaborators of the initiative is the
Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology, Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and
WesternUnion.com as the presenting sponsor. Chairon of the campaign is Sonia
Delen of the executive committee of Apl Foundation.
Villalon said that in the country only 26
doctors can diagnose ROP and these are all based in Manila.
The presence of the ROP machines and capacity
building for doctors has enabled the three retinal specialists and three
pediatric ophthalmologists in SPMC to diagnose and treat ROP.
Apl de Ap said addressing blindness among
children is close to his heart being legally blind at an early age Apl said
that growing up visually impaired was difficult.
“I cannot read what is written on the blackboard
and had to play catch-up in school lessons relying on my classmates written
notes.” Apl said.
His ambition to be a nurse or architect
was curtailed because of his eye condition thus the ROP project is a way of
paying forward to children like him who are visually impaired.
RETCAM presents high level of optics which can
provide imaging to the eyes of newborn pre-term infants particularly its blood vessels.
The machine costs about $125,000 or roughly P5-million with a maintenance cost
of P120,000 a year.
SPMC is the only recipient of the imaging
equipment outside of Metro Manila. (PIA/RG Alama)
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