Rotary Aravind International Eye Bank (RAIEB) celebrated its 10 years of Eye Banking at LAICO on May 1, 2009 when the Active Eye collection centres from 12 districts of Tamilnadu were honoured.

The programme started with the lighting of Kuthuvilakku by Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Dr.G.Natchiar, Vice-Chairman, past rotary governors Rtn.Ramanathan, Rtn.Shanmugasundaram and Mr.Lalji Vora. (Milan Proprietor). Dr.S.R.Krishnadas, CMO, Aravind-Madurai delivered welcome address.

Dr.P.Namperumalsamy released the 10 yrs souvenir and appreciated the Eye Collection centres for their wonderful work. Felicitation address was given by Dr.Kousalya Devi, Kasthuribai Hospital, Gandhigram, Rtn. M.N.Nayagam, Rtn.Ramanathan, Rtn.Lalji Vora and Rtn.Shanmugasundaram. Dr.M.Srinivasan, Director-AECS and RAIEB, explained the genesis of Madurai Eye Bank Association (MEBA) and RAIEB. Various Lions Clubs and NGOs were honoured during the celebration for the collection of 14,232 eyes in 10 years. Ms. Hepsiba Jawahar, Eye Bank manager delivered vote of thanks.

Aravind Eye Hospital’s City Centre was inaugurated on 13th March 2009 at 135, Palace road, Madurai by Sri. G. Srinivasan, Director-Fianance, Aravind Eye Care System. The solemn and simple ceremony was attended by Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice Chairman, Dr.M.Srinivasan, Director and other senior leaders of Aravind. Two bronze Kuthuvilakkus were lighted by the leaders and prominent invitees followed by distribution of sweets to the selected gathering.

The centralised A/C outpatient section is housed in a compact refurbished building. It consists of separate cabins for refractionists and doctors for examining patients. An optical shop is also available to enable the patients to purchase spectacles of their choice.

After the inauguration ceremony, the City Centre which is mainly intended for employees working in offices and industrial / commercial establishments as well as students started to function. The centre will have Friday as weekly holiday, keeping open on Sundays also. On the last Sunday (15.03.2009) a total of 98 patients including 3 review patients were examined.

Aravind Eye Hospital has established TIFAC-CORE (Centre of Relevance and Excellence) to carry out studies on various aspects of Diabetic Retinopathy. This workshop was organised as a part of the TIFAC-CORE project at Aravind Medical Research Foundation, Dr. G. Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute, Aravind Eye Care System, Madurai.

Flow cytometry (FCM) is a widely used technique, not only in immunology and hematology but also in many other domains and new applications have been developed in ophthalmology, for investigating ocular surface biology and pathophysiology.

The five day workshop included lectures from 5 pioneers in the field of Flow Cytometry:
  • Dr. Attila Tarnok, University of Leipzig, Germany
  • Dr. James F. Leary, Purdue University, USA
  • Dr. Robert M Zucker, US Environmental Protection Agency, USA
  • Dr. Susann Muller, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ, Germany and
  • Dr. Henning Ulrich, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

The sessions highlighted recent advancements in the field of Flow Cytometry and its various applications. The practical sessions included the demonstration of basics of analytical Cytometry and training of students in cytometry techniques and its applications in ophthalmic research. A total of 12 participants from various research institutes and colleges attended the training programme.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS has been awarded Padmashree Dr. JS Mahashabde Memorial IAGICEH Award 2008 by International Centre for Eye Health, London at the AIOS Conference, Jaipur, February 3, 2009.

On behalf of our Chairman, Dr. Naresh K Babu, Senior Consultant, Retina Vitreous Services has received the award from Dr Mathur, Vice - Chancellor of Rajasthan Health University. The meeting was presiding over by Dr. Swapan Samantha, Secretary of ICEH Alumini Indian Chapter.

This award was given as a mark of recognition towards his lift long selfless devoted community eye health care services around the Indian subcontinent.

Dr. P Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System, (with his initiation as the Co-ordinator, TIFAC-CORE in Diabetic Retinopathy) is chosen for the Health Care & Life Sciences Award the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 for his contribution to super-specialty Ophthalmology and his pioneering work in medical and surgical treatment of diseases of retina and vitreous in India.

Also, the awards were given to various categories such as Lifetime Achievement, Infrastructure & Construction, manufacturing, Start-Up Entrepreneur, Services, Business Transformation, Manager at the award ceremony.

Ernst & Young organised its tenth ‘Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year Awards 2008’ on Wednesday, November 26, at the Taj Land’s End in Mumbai. As many as 400 of the country’s leading industrialists and corporate personalities gathered at the occasion.

Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year has recognized and honored over 70 exemplary Indian entrepreneurs, who have helped put the country on the global stage. Across 135 cities and 50 countries, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year is the worlds most prestigious and coveted business award for entrepreneurs.

Medical research should be oriented towards finding solutions to unique problems faced in India and developing effective medicines at affordable cost, said the former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam after inaugurating the Dr. G. Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute.

Calling upon all those involved in a wide spectrum of medical field in the Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) to come together to find solutions to all forms of avoidable blindness, Mr. Kalam wanted the institute to focus on finding the unique index for body mass among Indians. Research should also be undertaken to find out the index-specific gene that caused diabetic retinopathy among those with diabetes.

He pointed out that diabetic people in Orissa did not develop diabetic retinopathy. Was this due to the habit of consuming fresh water fish, he wondered and wanted medical researchers to find out the link. He said there was a need to develop a medicine for fungal infection of the cornea and a cost-effective medicine for glaucoma. Research should also focus on predicting the predisposition of a child in the womb to eye diseases.

Mr. Kalam said though the AECS had been winning several awards the greatest award would be getting “light from darkness” for millions of people across the globe. The institute, he said, was the most fitting tribute to Dr. Venkataswamy, who had created a brand in eye care delivery from south Tamil Nadu, on his 90th birthday. The research institute would create a global brand in research and accelerate the movement towards eradication of needless blindness.

M. Natarajan, Principal Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister, said the AECS was able to perform over 2 lakh cataract surgeries per year through effective strategies that transcended the barriers of poverty and ignorance. He was confident that the Defence Research and Development Organisation, which was doing collaborative research with AECS, would be in a position to come out with a bionic eye in the next 10 years. Wallace J. Lee Alward, Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Iowa, expressed the hope that Aravind would enjoy the same level of success in research as it had in treatment and manufacturing (lens and drugs). Pararajasekaram, former World Health Organisation consultant from Sri Lanka, recalled how Dr. Venkataswamy’s work embodied Gandhian principles.

P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS, recalled the various stages of the mission of eliminating needless blindness in society. VR. Muthukaruppan, Director, Research, outlined the scope for the Rs.29 crore facility in various areas of ophthalmic research.

Aurolab participated in the 56th Annual Conference of Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic Association held at Chennai from 8-10. A team from Aurolab took part in the trade fair of TNOA conference. Aurolab was given the Best Stall Award for its stall exhibited in the conference. Aurolab took this opportunity to introduce its new product “Aurosling” - an implantable flexible silicon rod swaged to malleable sharp needles with a 7mm silicon sleeve and also promoted the existing products to the ophthalmic society. Many delegates who attended the conference visited Aurolab’s stall and viewed the products promoted by the staff members.

Mr. Poornachandran of Aravind’s Instruments Maintenance department was awarded the Deaf Leaders Award for 2008. The award was presented to him on August 23, 2008 at the 5th year anniversary celebrations of DEAF LEADERS (Deaf Empowerment Activities for Literacy, Education, Accessible Development, Employment, Rehabilitation and Sports) at Coimbatore. Last year at the meeting of the organisation, Mr. Poornachandran had given a “talk” using sign language and a power point presentation on his work at Aravind.

Dr.G.Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute organized the 17th annual meeting of the Indian Eye Research Group (IERG) at Aravind-Madurai from July 26-27, 2008.

Dr. VR.Muthukkaruppan, Director-Research, AMRF welcomed the gathering.
Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS delivered the inaugural address. A total of 120 delegates including scientists, ophthalmologists and researchers from leading eye institutes, Universities and National Institutes in India participated in the conference.

During the conference, the papers were presented on recent trends and developments in various fields of Ophthalmology: Molecular genetics, Proteomics, Cell biology, Stem cells, Microbiology, Ocular pharmacology, Epidemiology were presented and discussed in detail.

Two oration awards were arranged by the IERG Organizing committee. Dr. G. Natchair, Vice Chairman, AECS presented Dr. G.Venkataswamy Memorial Oration award to Dr. Fielding Hejtmancik, Chief, Department of Genetics, National Eye Institute, USA. His oration was on "The Barbados Family study of open Angle Glaucoma: Recent Progress". Dr. Anand Swaroop, Senior Investigator and Chief, Neurobiology Neurodegeneration and repair Laboratory (N-NRL), National Eye Institute, USA received the Bireswar Chakrabarti Memorial Oration Award from
Dr. P. Namperumalsamy. He delivered the oration entitled "Retinal Development and Degeneration: Treatment Paradigms form Basic Biology".

Dr. Haripriya Aravind
- Role of optic material and haptic design on incidence of posterior capsule opacification
- What’s new in cataract surgery

A total of 40 oral and 49 poster presentations, the following were awarded the Best oral and poster presentations. S. Vaishali, AMRF, Madurai and J. Nirmal, AIIMS, New Delhi received the Best Oral Award. GP.Surya Prakash, LVPEI, Hyderabad & V. Sasikala, University of Kerala, Kerala received Best Poster Award. Ten young research scholars were given Travel Fellowship. Dr. Lalitha Prajna and Dr. P.Sundaresan from Aravind Eye Care System organized the scientific sessions.

Apollo Hospitals have conferred an award on Aravind Eye Care System in recognition of redefining quality eye care, for pioneering a self-sustaining system that has overcome barriers of distance, poverty and ignorance, and taken eye-care to the doorstep of rural India. Chairman Dr. P.Namperumalsamy was honoured with the award on the occasion of Doctors’ Day celebration on July 20, 2008. The celebration was organized by Apollo Hospitals at Hotel Taj Coramendal, Chennai.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman and Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice-Chairman of AECS participated in the celebration. The Chairman of Apollo Hospitals presided over the function and the Honourable Union Minister for Finance Shri P. Chidambaram presented the awards and delivered the special address. The award received by Dr. P.N. carries a Citation Block and a cash of Rs. 2 lacs.

Dr. P.Namperumalsamy, chairman, Aravind Eye Care System received the BC Roy Award (for 2006), on July 1, 2008. President Pratibha Patil presented the B.C. Roy National Awards for Medicine to eminent doctors at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan on July 1, 2008.

The doctors were felicitated for their contributions to medical research, teaching and development of specialities in various branches of medicine. The awards for 2005, 2006 and 2007 were given to 55 doctors for their contributions to various medical disciplines, including psychiatry, gastroenterology, oncology, urology and cardiology.

Aravind Eye Care System has won the Piramal Prize for its innovative rural eye care service through the IT enabled Vision centres which offer telemedicine facility to eye patients in the villages. The Rs. 10 lakh prize was awarded by the Piramal Foundation and centre of Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship, a wing of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

A memorandum on the Vision Centre Programme initiated by Chairman Dr. P. Namperumalsamy was submitted and explained to the panel by Mr. V. Vijayakumar, Project Manager and Mr. Mohammed Gowth, Assistant Manager, Camp office. Out of the 300 odd applicants, Aravind got through the selection process and won the prize. Both the Aravind staff received the award at a function held on June 30, 2008 at Ahmedabad.

To recognise the employees' collective contributions and joint efforts that have earned for Aravind prestigious international awards like the Champalimaud Vision Award and Gates Award for Global Health, Aravind Eye Care System held a function - "Sangamam"- on June 24, 2008.

The function, was attended by special invitees and chief guest Mr. Raja Govindasamy, Principal, Thyagarajar Arts college. Mr. Sanil Joseph rendered prayer song.

Dr. R. Krishnadas, CMO, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, delivered welcome address. He acknowledged the services of everyone and congratulated all employees for their contributions.

Chairman Dr. P.Namperumalsamy in his thanks giving speech said, "All we have achieved is the achievement of each one of you. It is the award for each and every one of you who is working for Aravind. Without your individual contributions this achievement would not have been possible".

Mr. Raja Govindaswamy paid compliments to the united work of Aravind employees and admired the honesty and sincerity with which they are functioning. A skit that demonstrated the kind and compassionate service of Aravind doctors and other employees received acclamation from the audience. Dr. Ramakrishnan, Assistant Administrator, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai proposed a vote of thanks. The National Anthem was played by representatives of various departments.

Sangamam '08 was celebrated at Aravind-Puducherry on June 20. Programme commenced with the prayer song, Mr. Poobalan, Manager-Administration welcomed the gathering and Dr. Venkatesh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, explained the Genesis of Aravind through power point presentation. Dr. R.D. Ravindran, CMO gave a motivational talk and explained about the prestigious awards of AECS got during the recent time with slides showing the presentation ceremony.

Mr. Vijay Poddar, Pondicherry Ashramam and Mr. Muthuramalingam, Madhuranthagam were the special guest for the function. During their felicitation speech they shared their experience with Aravind Eye Hospital and how the team has worked to get such awards. They congratulated the entire staff for their service and emphasized that the sincere service extended to the patients is considered much more recognition than the Awards.

The video clipping of Dr.Allen Foster’s inspiring speech during the inauguration of the Aurolab was shown to the audience with Tamil translation. A few letters of feedback about Aravind’s services, received from patients were read to audience. Dr. Badrinath Talwar thanked the gathering.