This group is meant to increase awareness regarding Keratoconus (a condition in which the clear tissue on the front of the eye, the cornea, bulges outward) amongst the public, and provide support and advice to the patients who have this condition. Additionally, LVPEI’s Tej Kohli Cornea Institute organized a Patient Interactive Forum on 10 November 2018 to commemorate the World Keratoconus Day. It was held at the Institute’s Hyderabad campus and at the other tertiary centres at Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar through a web interface. Our campus at Bhubaneswar had its interactive session in Odiya language. The program was attended by 168 people out of which 89 were keratoconus patients.
The forum provided a platform for the patients and their parents to share with each other their experiences of living with keratoconus. Additionally, they were able to seek expert advice from the TKCI’s team of cornea specialists, led by Dr Mukesh Taneja, on various treatment options available to manage keratoconus. A Facebook page ‘Keratoconus Forum’ has also been launched, where the patients can continue to interact among themselves and with the doctors when they want to.
Radio Mirchi Hyderabad’s popular RJ Shadab was also present. He shared with the patients his personal challenges of living with keratoconus and how he had successfully overcome them. Over the past 30 years, the institute has treated approximately 12,000 keratoconus patients.
