Allan Pineda Lindo, better known as Apl.de.ap, a founding member of the international Grammy award-winning group, The Black Eyed Peas, is delivering on a promise he made almost three and half years ago.
In October 2015, the Apl.de.ap Foundation International began its first healthcare program called “Campaign for Filipino Children” to address retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a cause of childhood blindness among premature newborn babies in the Philippines.
The first outcome of the initiative was to purchase a retinal imaging camera system to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of ROP. With the collaboration of the Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology, it was successfully delivered and installed at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, a public hospital in Davao City, Davao del Sur, serving the people of Mindanao.
Apld.de.ap brought with him Dr. Thomas C. Lee, Director of the Vision Center at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and a leading pediatric ophthalmologist in the U.S., to train practitioners on the use of the RetCam. At the time, Apl promised additional retinal imaging camera systems to other regional hospitals in the Philippines.
On Feb. 19, Apl.de.ap and his Foundation will install a second retinal imaging camera system at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga, his home province.
When asked what delivering this medical equipment to his home province meant, Apl.de.ap said “I’m really proud to donate this in my hometown of Pampanga. As a kid who grew up with visual impairment, I know firsthand what it is to navigate this region without being able to see. I’m glad I can make a small impact to changing this, but there’s still a long way to go.”
The campaign’s approach is to assist the medical community in the Philippines through five regional/provincial hospitals to increase the capacities of these regions to adequately diagnose retinopathy of prematurity (commonly referred to as ROP), an affliction among pre-term infants that can cause lifelong blindness if not addressed within 48 hours of birth/diagnosis.
“The Campaign for Filipino Children’s choice to address ROP is both strategic and sustainable,” said Sonia Delen, Chairperson, and a member of the Apl.de.ap Foundation International Executive Committee.
“The capacity of the Philippines to effectively address this issue is enhanced tremendously by the continuing professional development of the medical community and the provision of proper diagnostic equipment. It is a medical issue that hits home for Apl.de.ap because he himself has a visual impairment,” she added.
The Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology—the leading industry association of Filipino ophthalmologists heads an impressive list of collaborators that include The Knights Templar Eye Foundation, Inc., benefactor of the Campaign;WesternUnion.com and ALQ Foundation as sponsors; and members of the Executive Committee of the Apl.de.ap Foundation International, specifically Sonia Delen of San Francisco, Chair, and J. Robbie Fabian, a member of the ADAFI Executive Committee.
The launch will take place on Feb. 19 at at 11:00 a.m. at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital Auditorium, 2000 MacArthur Highway in San Fernando, Pampanga. Guest speakers will include Dr. Monserrat S. Chichioco of JBLMRH, Dr. Francisco T. Dugue III, Secretary of the Department of Health, Dr. Pearl Tamesis-Villalon from the Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology, and Dr. Roland Mangahas, Chair of the Ophthalmology Department at JBLMRH.
The first priority of the Apl.de.ap Foundation (Philippines) and the Apl.de.ap Foundation International is education. The foundation built a music studio and computer lab in the two schools that Apl attended in his hometown of Sapang Bato in the province of Pampanga, Philippines: Sapang Bato National High School and Holy Angels University.
The Foundation currently sponsors 14 scholars at Angeles University. The Foundation also participates in the Department of Education initiative to build new schools especially in far flung and hard-to-reach areas of the country. To date, it has built 15 new schools including one in the war-torn area of Zamboanga in Mindanao. For more information please visit www.apldeapfoundation.org.
The ”Campaign for Filipino Children” is the foundation’s first health initiative and it is in line with the Foundation’s education priority because of its emphasis on training doctors and creating local capacity in the medical community in the Philippines to address the eye ailment called retinopathy of prematurity. Please visit www.forfilipinochildren.org.