K. Bhujang Shetty

K. Bhujang Shetty
Born
Katkeri Bhujang Shetty

(1953-10-21)21 October 1953
Shankaranarayana, Udupi district, Karnataka, India
Died19 May 2023(2023-05-19) (aged 69)
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
OccupationOphthalmologist
Known forFounder of Narayana Nethralaya
AwardsKarnataka Rajyotsava Award (2010)
Seva Rathna (2018)

Katkeri Bhujang Shetty (21 October 1953 – 19 May 2023) was an Indian ophthalmologist and the founder-chairman of Narayana Nethralaya, a super-speciality eye care hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka.[1][2] He was known for promoting eye donation in Karnataka and for initiating the KIDROP telemedicine programme for screening premature infants.[1][3] He received the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2010.[4][5]

Early life and education

Shetty was born on 21 October 1953 in Shankaranarayana village, Udupi district, Karnataka.[1] He attended Baldwin Boys' High School in Bengaluru, where he was school captain and sports captain.[1]

He completed his MBBS from Bangalore Medical College in 1978, and his MS in Ophthalmology from the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Minto Ophthalmic Hospital, Bangalore Medical College, in 1982.[1][4]

Career

After completing his postgraduate training in 1982, Shetty established a small ophthalmology clinic in Srirampuram, Bengaluru.[1] In 1993, he opened a larger facility in Rajajinagar, which developed into Narayana Nethralaya, a multi-speciality eye hospital.[3][1] The hospital later expanded to multiple campuses across Bengaluru.[4]

Shetty specialised in cataract and phacoemulsification surgery.[1] An obituary in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology noted that he was among the first to establish higher-end private-sector eye care services in Karnataka.[6]

In December 2022, a free eye hospital named Narayana Devalaya was inaugurated in Tumakuru under the Narayana Nethralaya umbrella.[7]

Eye donation advocacy

Shetty promoted eye donation in Karnataka. He enlisted the support of Kannada film actor Rajkumar, who pledged to donate his eyes, leading to the establishment of the Dr. Rajkumar Eye Bank at Narayana Nethralaya in 1994.[1][6] Upon Dr Rajkumar's death the pledge was fulfilled by his family. When Rajkumar's son Puneeth Rajkumar died in October 2021, his corneas were donated to the eye bank and used to restore sight in four patients.[1]

According to the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, the eye bank had received more than 65,000 eye pledges and over 10,000 tissue donations by the time of Shetty's death in 2023.[1]

KIDROP programme

Shetty helped initiate the Karnataka Internet Assisted Diagnosis of Retinopathy of Prematurity (KIDROP) programme, a public-private partnership between Narayana Nethralaya and the Government of India, which began in 2008.[1][8] The programme used trained technicians and wide-field digital imaging to screen premature infants for retinopathy of prematurity across rural neonatal units in Karnataka.

Peer-reviewed research published in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology and Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, on which Shetty was listed as a co-author, documented the programme's operation across multiple zones and over 80 neonatal units in Karnataka.[9][10] The Indian Journal of Ophthalmology in memoriam stated the programme had screened more than 80,000 infants by 2023.[1]

Awards and honours

Karnataka Rajyotsava Award (2010), in the medical category[5][4] Seva Rathna Award (2018)[11]

Death

Shetty died on 19 May 2023 in Bengaluru from cardiac arrest at the age of 69.[2][12] He had returned home after seeing patients when he suffered the cardiac arrest and was admitted to Manipal Hospital, Yeshwanthpur, where he was declared dead at approximately 9:40 pm.[12] His eyes were donated after his death, in keeping with his lifelong advocacy for eye donation.[1][13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Sen, M.; Jayadev, C.; Honavar, S. G. (June 2023). "Dr. K. Bhujang Shetty: In Memoriam". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 71 (6): 2327. doi:10.4103/IJO.IJO_1400_23. PMC 10418003.
  2. 1 2 "Narayana Nethralaya's Bhujang Shetty dies at 69 in Bengaluru". Times of India. 19 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Doctor who took eyecare beyond hospital walls". Times of India. 20 May 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Bhujang Shetty: The eye doctor with a vision". The Hindu. 20 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Bengaluru: Narayana Nethralaya chief Dr Bhujanga Shetty passes away". ETV Bharat. 20 May 2023.
  6. 1 2 Rathod, Sujatha (23 May 2023). "Obituary: Bhujang Shetty, Kannada ophthalmologist who helped millions". The South First.
  7. ↑ "CM inaugurates free eye hospital in Tumakuru". The Hindu. 8 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Early screening saves 3k babies from blindness". The New Indian Express. 18 November 2021.
  9. ↑ Vinekar, A.; Gilbert, C.; Dogra, M.; Kurian, M.; Shainesh, G.; Shetty, B.; Bauer, N. (2014). "The KIDROP model of combining strategies for providing retinopathy of prematurity screening in underserved areas in India using wide-field imaging, tele-medicine, non-physician graders and smart phone reporting". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 62 (1): 41–49. doi:10.4103/0301-4738.126178. PMC 3955063. PMID 24492500.
  10. ↑ Vinekar, A.; Jayadev, C.; Mangalesh, S.; Shetty, B.; Vidyasagar, D. (2015). "Role of tele-medicine in retinopathy of prematurity screening in rural outreach centers in India: a report of 20,214 imaging sessions in the KIDROP program". Seminars in Fetal and Neonatal Medicine. 20 (5): 335–345. doi:10.1016/j.siny.2015.05.002. PMID 26092301.
  11. ↑ "Seva Rathna awarded to Bhujang Shetty". The New Indian Express. 12 November 2018.
  12. 1 2 "Renowned ophthalmologist Dr K Bhujang Shetty dies at 69". News9Live. 19 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Loss of a visionary: Renowned ophthalmologist Dr K Bhujang Shetty passes away at age 69". The South First. 20 May 2023.
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