Chennai: Tamilnadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has said so far under Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme, around 52 lakh persons had been reached. Nearly 1.11 crore medicine kits had been provided to the beneficiaries.
The scheme had received recognition from several States. He said this at the launch of Glaucoma Awareness Week organised by Rajan Eye Care Hospital in the city.
Subramanian, who launched the Glaucoma Awareness and Prevention Week and two books on the occasion, said Rajan Eye Care Hospital had worked with Greater Chennai Corporation during his tenure as the Mayor to screen school students and provided spectacles to children.
In his address, Dr Mohan Rajan, chairman and managing director of Rajan Eye Care Hospital., said, ‘It’s not an optician who can detect high eye pressure and damage to the optic nerve, but an ophthalmologist.’
‘High eye pressure or intraocular pressure damages the optic nerve connecting the eye to the brain, causing glaucoma, a group of eye conditions,’ he added.
Lingam Vijaya, senior consultant, Sankara Nethralaya and a glaucoma specialist, said, ‘the public should be empowered to ask if the master health check-up includes eye testing.’