Knights Templar Eye Foundation Supports AAPOS & IPOSC Stop Infant Blindness in Africa (SIBA)

In 2018, the Knights Templar Eye Foundation funded a meeting organized by the International Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Council (IPOSC) in Cape Town, South Africa. During this meeting, IPOSC created Stop Infant Blindness in Africa, an initiative to end preventable vision loss and blindness from Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) in infants in sub–Saharan Africa (SSA).

Retinopathy of Prematurity is an eye disorder caused by the abnormal development of retinal blood vessels in premature infants. Often, premature babies are given oxygen because their lungs are immature. If this oxygen is not carefully regulated, ROP can develop and worsen, leading to vision loss and blindness.

Almost all African countries are unable to provide proper oxygen management, screening, and treatment for ROP simply because they lack equipment and training. Stop Infant Blindness is an organized effort to deliver the training and equipment necessary to stop ROP from blinding and visually impairing thousands of babies in sub-Saharan Africa.

In partnership with the Children’s Eye Foundation of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, IPOSC has assembled a team of ROP experts from around the world who have been working for the past year and half to assemble a training program and deliver the needed equipment to spare these babies from a lifetime of suffering.

Endorsed by Grammy Award winning musician, Stevie Wonder, the program is launching in Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda and will eventually spread to hospitals throughout Africa. The Knights Templar Eye Foundation invested in fully supporting Phase 1 of this initiative with a gift of $684,800. These funds will supply hospitals in these regions with training teams and all the equipment necessary to end preventable blindness and vision loss from Retinopathy of Prematurity.

To learn more about Stop Infant Blindness in Africa and watch a short video about the project, please visit: https://www.ktef.org/videos which is available from the KTEF website and is downloadable.