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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Apl.de.ap gives back to his hometown

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Allan Pineda Lindo, popularly known as Apl.de.ap of the international Grammy award-winning group, The Black Eyed Peas, has delivered on a promise he made almost three and half years ago.

Apl.de.ap gives back to his hometown
Apl.de.ap was born with a visual impairment. 

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 the purchase of a retinal imaging camera system to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of ROP. 

In collaboration with the Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology, it was successfully delivered and installed at the Southern Philippines Medical Center, a public hospital in Davao City. 

Apl.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 retina specialist in the US, to train practitioners on the use of the RetCam. At the time, Apl.de.ap promised additional retinal imaging camera systems to other regional hospitals in the Philippines.

On February 19, Apl.de.ap and his foundation installed a second retinal imaging camera system at the Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga. 

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“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,” he shared.

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 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 member of the Apl.de.ap Foundation International Executive Committee. 

Apl.de.ap gives back to his hometown
SEEING CLEARLY. Allan Pineda Lindo, more popularly known as Apl.de.ap of American musical group The Black Eyed Peas (third from left) personally turned over the retinal imaging camera his foundation donated to Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga. 

She added, “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.”

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