How to fix Backlight?

I've had my Kindle Paperwhite 1st Gen for about 8 months. My backlight started periodically flashing. At first it would blink on and off for about 10 seconds after first powering on the device. Then it eventually stopped turning on at all. Now I occassionally get the light to turn on for 2-3 seconds when I first turn on the device, but it's off the rest of the time. Changing the brightness settings and resetting the device doesn't change anything.

Do I need to replace the LED light? Or is this something else that can be fixed? Everything else functions normally on the unit.