In much of the world, babies born prematurely frequently develop needless lifelong blindness from Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), with terrible consequences for the individual and wider community. This condition is entirely preventable and treatable if diagnosed early enough with a Binocular Indirect Ophthalmoscope (BIO). The sad reality is that BIOs are impractically expensive for eye care professionals in lower resource health care settings. Screening for ROP, therefore, is rare and blindness common.
We have previously developed a low-cost solar powered BIO suitable for use in LMICs. To accelerate the implementation of this new device, we have delivered face-to-face workshops using our unique simulation training eyes. These eyes illustrate all the signs of the development of ROP. With mentorship from experienced clinicians, eye care workers in low resource settings have gained knowledge, skills and confidence in the examination of babies to prevent blindness. This project has successfully delivered workshops in Asia and Africa. More recently, we have also developed strategies to deliver this type of teaching via video sharing platforms.