WHITATHON – Marathon for Eye Cancer Awareness
curewebMay 19, 2024
Whitathon is an annual flapship tun conducted by LV Prasad Eye Institute to raise awareness about eye cancer in children, Retinoblastoma and also raise funds for underprivileged children with Retinoblastoma. The 6th edition of the run conducted on May 19th 2024 which attracted 2200 runners from all age groups and all spheres of life.
We were fortunate to have Dr. Vineeth G, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Madhapur Zone, attend the event and launch the 10K run along with Dr. Vijay Anand Reddy, Director of Apollo Cancer Hospital, Shri Dilip Kumar Mohanty, Director (Production and Personnel), NMDC Ltd, Dr. Prashant Garg, Executive Chair, L V Prasad Eye Institute and Dr. Swathi Kaliki, Head Operation Eye Sight Universal, Institute for Eye Cancer, L V Prasad Eye Institute.
We had a total registrations of 2132. (756 runners participated in the 10K timed run; 414 runners participated in a 5K timed run; 310 participants in the 5K Fun Run. 652 participants in the 3K Fun Run.) In addition, we had 100 volunteers on the field, backed by the Synchrony and Hyderabad Runners teams. We had 140 Army runners too.
Whitathon 2024 not only increased awareness about retinoblastoma, but it also served as a valuable community involvement and team-building activity.
Retinoblastoma – a Cancer of the Retina (the so called screen of the Eye) occurs commonly in Children between the ages, Zero to 4 yrs. It is a highly curable Cancer, when detected early. The parents need to be aware of the early symptoms – White spot in the Centre of Eye, redness in the eye, improper movement of the eye ball, improper vision etc.
