- Whitathon is L V Prasad Eye Institute’s annual cause-related running event to raise awareness and funds for children with retinoblastoma eye cancer.
- Retinoblastoma eye cancer most commonly affects children below 3 years of age (90%).
- 20 to 25% of cases of eye cancer worldwide in children are from India, and 50% of cases worldwide lose their lives due to late detection and inadequate treatment.
- Retinoblastoma is curable if the tumour is detected and treated early, thus saving the life, eye, and vision of the child.
Hyderabad, May 20, 2023: Sri Anjani Kumar, Director General of Police, Telangana State, will be the Chief Guest to flag off L V Prasad Eye Institute’s WHITATHON RUN on May 21, 2023. The run will take place at the University of Hyderabad Campus, and over 2200 runners will be participating in it, including personnel from the Air Force and Army.
Whitathon is LVPEI’s annual cause-related running event aimed at raising awareness and funds for the early diagnosis and treatment of life and vision-threatening retinoblastoma eye cancer in children.
Dr Swathi Kaliki, Ocular Oncologist and Head of the Operation Eyesight Universal Institute for Eye Cancer at L V Prasad Eye Institute, stated, 'It is crucial for parents, caregivers, and the community to be aware of the common symptoms of eye cancer in children, with white reflex being the most important one, and to seek timely medical care. Retinoblastoma eye cancer is curable if the tumour is detected and treated early, thus saving the life, eye, and vision of the child. We are delighted by the impact Whitathon has created over the last five years, and we are confident that the momentum will only continue to grow. We are honoured to have Sri Anjani Kumar as the Chief Guest for this event and extend our sincere thanks to him.'
She further expressed her gratitude by saying, 'We would like to express our gratitude to all the participants for their heartening response, our sponsors for their generous support, our volunteers, and Hyderabad Runners for their continuous support of this initiative since its inception.'
WHITATHON, initiated in 2018, is L V Prasad Eye Institute’s annual cause-related event focusing on raising awareness and funds for early diagnosis and treatment of Retinoblastoma – a Life and Vision-threatening Eye Cancer in Children. One of the most common symptoms of Retinoblastoma is White Reflex (white glow) in a child’s eye. Through this run, LVPEI aims to raise awareness among the public that if they spot a ‘White Reflex’ in a child’s eye, it could be a sign of eye cancer that needs immediate medical intervention. Treating eye cancer can be a costly and prolonged affair. The funds raised from this run go towards providing free treatment to children from less privileged backgrounds who are afflicted with retinoblastoma. Additionally, the funds help to further research into developing innovative treatment alternatives for this ailment. The funds raised from WHITATHON have supported the treatment of more than 2000 children with retinoblastoma eye cancer.
The run has four categories: 10K (Timed run), 5K (Timed run), 5K (Fun run) and 3K (Fun run).
Support received for WHITATHON 2023: Diamond Sponsor: GTN Industries Ltd and Alcon Laboratories (India) Pvt Ltd Gold Sponsors - Techwave Consulting India Pvt Ltd, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) Ltd, Gebauer Medizintechnik GMBH and Essilor Luxottica Group; Silver Sponsors - Vision RX Lab Pvt Ltd, Biomedix Optotechnik & Devices Pvt Ltd and Carl Zeiss India (Bangalore) Pvt Ltd; Bronze Sponsors - IDBI Bank Ltd, Delta Lens Pvt Ltd, Cure Foundation, Alkem Laboratories Ltd and Celon Laboratories Pvt Ltd; Supporter - Alankar Traders, Asian Surgical Company and Asian Engineering Company and GSR Hospitality Services; Medical Partner: EMRI Green Health Services; Volunteer Partners: Synchrony Financial Pvt are the volunteer partners; Prize Partners: Park Hyatt Hyderabad Hotel and Residences, Radisson Blu- Banjara Hills and Taj Deccan.
About LVPEI: Established in 1987, L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness, is a comprehensive eye health facility. The Institute has ten functional arms to its areas of operations: Clinical Services, Education, Research, Vision Rehabilitation, Rural and Community Eye Health, Eye Banking, Advocacy and Policy Planning, Capacity Building, Innovation and Product Development. The LVPEI Eye Care Network has 275 Centres spread across the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka in India. The institute's mission is to provide equitable and quality eye care to all sections of society. The LVPEI’s five-tier ‘Eye Health Pyramid’ model covering all sections of society right from the villages to the city, provides high quality and comprehensive - prevention, curative and rehabilitation – eye care to all. It has served over 34.14 million (3 crore 41 lakh people), with more than 50% of them entirely free of cost, irrespective of the complexity of care needed.