Center of Excellence for the Prevention of Childhood Blindness
Center of Excellence for the Prevention of Childhood Blindness was established in 2014 in cooperation with the USAID. The vision for this program is making specialized eye care accessible to all children in Armenia and surrounding countries and eliminating childhood blindness of ROP. It is the logical continuation of the “National Screening and Treatment Program on Retinopathy of Prematurity in Armenia” that the AECP carries out since 2010.
The main results achieved from 2010 to 2016 are as follows:
• Initial and follow-up screenings have been conducted for 4.442 target group newborns
• 14.055 ROP screenings have been conducted
• 130 newborns have received 177 laser treatment/photocoagulation
• 70 newborns have received 97 anti-VEGF treatment
• 29 vitreoretinal and other related surgeries have been performed for 25 newborns
Our mission is eliminating
preventable blindness and
making eye care accessible to
all people in Armenia.
The continuing involvement of U.S. physicians - among them, the finest retina and ROP specialists in the world - with highly-trained AECP Armenia surgeons will elevate the treatment of ROP in Armenia to a level that will qualify it as a regional center. The project is committed to ensure excellence both in treatment and in service.
The lack of trained professionals and equipment, as well as the increase in ROP cases in other countries—a majority of which do not have nationwide or systematized programs yet—will make the services of the Center of Excellence very much in demand.
The AECP will work to develop and maintain professional contacts with medical practitioners throughout the region through conferences, reciprocal visits, training, on-line technologies, etc.
We hope that the CEPCB will become a virtual regional learning center, which would have the strength of knowledge from different countries and allow joint discussions on the diagnosis, treatment modes and options for ROP cases. A number of tools and mechanisms will be used to create and maintain a useful and continuously used virtual examination rooms, consultations and image sharing.