Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System received the prestigious Gates Award for Global Health for 2008 on May 29, 2008. In a grand ceremony held at Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington D.C, U.S.A, Bill Gates Sr, presented the $ 1 million Gates Award to our chairman. Dr. R.D. Ravindran, Joint Director, AECS also attended the function. (Read More)

Dr. Narendran, Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore and his team successfully performed the first case of Ophthalmic Brachytherapy using Iodine 125 seeds manufactured by Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) on May 26, 2008. It is a case of a large choroidal melanoma. Last week they did their second case and the third case is due next week. This is the first time in India that I-125 seeds from BARC are using commercially which had earlier been used only in pilot studies.

Aravind Eye Care System Wins $1 Million Prize for Preventing and Curing Blindness in India's Poorest Communities.

SEATTLE - In recognition of its groundbreaking work to prevent debilitating blindness and provide affordable, world-class eye care to the poor, the Aravind Eye Care System, based in Tamil Nadu, India, has won the 2008 Gates Award for Global Health. The $1 million Gates Award—the world's largest prize for international health—honors extraordinary efforts to improve health in developing countries.

Founded by Dr. G. Venkataswamy in 1976, Aravind has saved millions of people in India from debilitating blindness. Cataracts account for more than half the cases of blindness in India. In the past year, Aravind provided out-patient care to approximately 2.4 million patients and performed more than 280,000 surgeries. Thanks in part to Aravind's efforts, the estimated number of blind people in India fell from 8.9 million in 1990 to 6.7 million in 2002, a decline of 25%.

William H. Gates Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will present the award on May 29 at the Global Health Council's 35th Annual International Conference in Washington, DC.

"Being blind in a rural village in the developing world leaves a person in darkness and dependence, often unable to earn a living or assist in the duties of their household," said Mr. Gates. "Aravind has given sight to millions of men, women, and children, enabling them to participate fully in the lives of their families and communities."

Since 1976, Aravind has grown from a rented house with 11 beds to a thriving network of hospitals and satellite clinics that provide eye exams and surgeries, train health care professionals, conduct research, and manufacture eye care products.

Outreach teams from Aravind hospitals coordinate with local leaders and service groups across India to organize "eye camps" that provide free exams. Since 2004, Aravind has used high-speed broadband access to link these camps directly to on-call doctors in central hospitals. The doctors can diagnose and refer patients in real time, ensuring that only those who require surgery make the journey to the hospital.

"All people have a right to sight," said Dr. Perumalsamy Namperumalsamy, chairman of Aravind. "We hope that this award will encourage others to develop creative, sustainable solutions to blindness and other global health challenges."

Aravind's innovative business model enables it to provide the same high-quality care to every patient, regardless of their ability to pay, without charitable contributions. The organization enlists local businesses to sponsor eye care hospitals, and subsidizes care for the poor through fees from paying patients and global sales of eye care products.

"Ensuring that the world's poorest people can access essential health care is an ongoing challenge in global health," said Dr. Nils Daulaire, president of the Global Health Council. "Aravind has demonstrated that there are ways to do good and commit to providing the highest quality services while utilizing the latest technologies and scientific advances."

About the Gates Award for Global Health
The Gates Award for Global Health was established by Bill and Melinda Gates in 2000 to recognize exemplary work in international health. The Global Health Council coordinates the selection process for and presentation of the Gates Award at its Annual International Conference.

Previous recipients of the Gates Award include Thailand's Population and Community Development Association for its innovative work in family planning and HIV prevention (2007); the Carter Center, for its pioneering work to fight neglected diseases (2006); the African Medical and Research Foundation, for improving health in some of Africa's poorest communities (2005); the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, for community-based health programs (2004); the Brazilian National AIDS Program, for its integrated approach to HIV prevention and treatment (2003); the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, for contributions to polio eradication (2002); and the ICDDR,B Center for Health and Population Research, for the discovery of a diarrhea therapy that has saved millions of lives (2001).

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Patty Stonesifer and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

CME Programme on Paediatric Eye Diseases and Radiology in Paediatrics was conducted for Paediatricians at Aravind-Tirunelveli on April 20. A total of 45 Pediatricians from Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari Districts participated in the CME. Dr.Gopinath, Radiologist and Dr.S.Raju, Paediatrician were invitied as Chief Guest.

The CME started with welcome address by Dr.R.Ramakrishnan, CMO, Aravind-Tirunelveli, followed by Dr.Meenakshi, Paediatric Ophthalmologist who spoke on "Paediatric Eye Diseases". Dr.Ankit Avasthi spoke on "Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Dr.R.Ramakrishnan gave a talk on "Developmental Glaucoma". Dr.Gopinath, Radiologist from Aarthi CT Scan spoke about "Paediatric Radiology" and Dr.S.Raju, Paediatrician from Krishna Nursing Home about "Torch Infections". All the participants of the CME were given laminated Snellen chart with instructions to be displayed in their Clinics. This was given with an aim to create Vision Corridor.

The Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) won one more laurel when Modern Medicare Excellence Awards 2007 were presented in Mumbai on March 14, 2008. Mr. RD. Thulasiraj, Executive Director, LAICO has been Chosen as the "ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR". The awards were introduced last year by GE Healthcare in association with Info Media India to honour individuals and institutions for their outstanding contribution healthcare. Since he was on foreign tour, Mr. Sanil Joseph, Faculty, LAICO received the award.

Kurinjippadi Primary Eye Testing Centre (Vision Centre) was inaugurated on February 6, 2008. Tamil Nadu Health Minister, Honorable. M.R.K. Panneerselvam inaugurated the Centre in the presence of Mr. Rajendra Ratnu, District Collector, Cuddalore, Dr. N. Raja, Joint Director, Health, Cuddalore, Mr. R. Shanmuga Sundaram, Chairman, Panchayat Union, Kurinjippadi and Mrs. Thaiyal Nayagi, President, Panchayat, Kurinjippadi. Dr. R.D. Ravindran, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Venkatesh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Thiruvenkata Krishnan, Medical Officer, welcomed the Guests.

Primary Eye Testing Centre at Surandai was inaugurated on 22nd Februray 2008, by Dr.R.Ramakrishnan,Chief Medical Officer, Aravind-Tirunelveli. It is 45 Kms from Tirunelveli. The beginning was so encouraging and motivating, that out patient Department registered 108 Patients on the inaugural day.

The New Primary Eye Testing Centre at Punjai Puliyampatti was inaugurated on February 24 near Aravind-Coimbatore. Dr.Narendran, CMO, Aravind-Coimbatore inaugurated the Centre.

Primary Eye Testing Centre at Vilathikulam was inaugurated on February 25 by C.M.O Dr.R.Ramakrishnan. On the inaugural day, 125 outpatients were examined which is the highest so far.

Aravind’s online Virtual ophthalmic Academy was inaugurated on January 19, 2008 by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, former President of India. Dr.Sathyamurthy, Director, ANTRIX Corp., ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) gave addresses in the function to be attended by distinguished guests and ophthalmologists. Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System, delivered welcome address.

Networking of leading healthcare providers will help in sharing of knowledge, which will ultimately facilitate research in finding cure for diseases unique to the region, former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said here on Saturday.

Launching the Aravind Virtual Academy (AVA) at Aravind Eye Hospital, Mr. Kalam mooted networking of the hospital with leading eyecare providers such as Sankara Netralaya.

Periodic virtual meetings among them to discuss diseases unique to the region would even help in research in emerging areas. Stressing that knowledge should rule the pursuits of the AVA, Mr. Kalam said such a knowledge would blossom from creativity, righteousness and courage. L. Sathyamurthy, Director, Antrix Corporation, Indian Space Research Organisation, underscored the ambition of the organisation to apply space technology for the benefit of society.

Initially Aravind Virtual Academy covers the five centres of Aravind and later the network will be extended to 30 t0 40 partner hospitals out of 227 hospitals LAICO is currently working.

With the VSAT connectivity provided by ISRO, the classes conducted at Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai will be telecasted live to classes conducted in various centres. The transmission will also be recorded simultaneously in soft wares which could be utilised later at the convenience of the students.

Dr Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer of Aravind-Tirunelveli has been accorded a rare distinction of being invited by Dr George Spaeth to be a distinguished member of the International Fellow of Spaeth Society (IFSS). This is a very rare and coveted recognition and he is probably the first resident Indian ophthalmologist to have received this honor.

Dr Ramakrishnan has been trained by Dr George L Spaeth at Wills Eye Hospital in 1989.

Dr George Spaeth, a renowned Glaucoma Specialist, is the Director of Glaucoma Services of Wills Eye Hospital of the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia (Philadelphia State, USA). This institute has been consistently in the list of the Top Ten Eye Hospitals in the USA for the past several years. Dr Spaeth has made significant contributions in our understanding of glaucoma and has been a teacher non-parallel in the last decades of the twentieth century.

His research activities are centered around the characterisation and natural history of the cardinal manifestations of glaucoma, in particular-the anterior chamber angle, the visual field and the optic nerve. His teachings have profoundly influenced students and practitioners of glaucoma around the globe and it is an extra ordinary moment of pride for all of us at Aravind to see Dr Ramakrishnan as an elite member of Spaeth’s International Society. The only precedent of such a significant recognition is that of Dr. Namperumalsamy who was made a distinguished fellow of the legendary Schepen’s International Alumni.

31st Annual Day Celebration was held at Aravind-Madurai on December 15. All senior members, Doctors and staff participated in the programme. Dr. M. Srinivasan, Director, AECS welcomed the gathering. Dr. Krishnadas, CMO, presented the Achievements of Aravind Eye Care System in the year 2007. A cultural Programme performed by Creche Children was held. Mr. Sanil Joseph, Faculty sang a song about “Madurai”. Dr. Aravind, Administrator, AECS proposed vote of thanks. Service Awards were given in the function. Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice-Chairman, gave away 30 years service awards to IOL, Aurolab and Ms. B. Radha Bai, Superintendent, Nursing. Dr. M. Srinivasan gave away 25 year service award to Ms. S. Krishnaveni, Assistant Nursing Superintendent and Mr. Poornachandran, Instruments Maintenance Department. Dr. Tamilarasi MS student received the 1 st rank holder award in MS study.

Rotary movement has conferred its prestigious “For the Sake of Honour Award” to Dr. M. Srinivasan, chief of Cornea clinic, Aravind Eye Hospital, on December 7, 2007.

Usually the awardee goes to the Rotary club to receive the award. In a rare gesture, and in recognition of the eye care services being rendered by Aravind, the office bearers and members of Rotary club of Madurai West came to Aravind to confer the award on Dr. M.S who is also the Director of Aravind Eye Hospitals and Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology.

A special function was held at the main hospital’s auditorium for this purpose. Chairman Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Vice-Chairman, Dr. G. Natchiar, Dr. P. Vijaylakshmi, chief of paediatric ophthalmology clinic, senior staff members of Aravind and distinguished members of Rotary club attended the award ceremony. Mr.Jacob T. Abraham, President of Rotary club of Madurai west, welcomed the gathering.

Mr. Rajadurai, Governor, Rotary International District-3000, who conferred the award said that it is Rotary’s highest award given for service to humanity. He praised the eye care services of Dr. M. Srinivasan as an ophthalmologist and as a driving force of Rotary Aravind International Eye Bank. During the past 20 years the number of visually handicapped persons has gone down thanks to the services of institutions like Aravind Eye Care System, he said, Mr. Natanagopal introduced Dr. M.S. to the Rotarians. Mr. Raja Govindasamy read the citation.

Dr. M. Srinivasan in his thanks giving address said that the Eye Bank in Aravind was started in the year 1998 in collaboration with the Rotary club. Through this Eye Bank 12, 000 corneas have been collected for use in corneal transplantations. He suggested that Rotary International adopt one rotary district for eye donation so that it could concentrate on getting more eye donations. Rotary club secretary Rtn.A.P.Adithan, proposed a vote of thanks.

New Vision Centre at Madukarai was inaugurated on November 29, 2007 at Aravind-Puducherry. Vision Centre was inaugurated by Mr. V. Vaithilingam, Industries and Power Minister of Puducherry. Inauguration function was chaired by Mr. M.D.R. Ramachandran, Dr. R.D. Ravindran, CMO, and Dr. Venkatesh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer welcomed the gathering. 55 patients were registered in the Out Patient Department, out of which 5 were advised for GP and 5 were referred to base hospital for speciality services.

Fred Hollows Foundation had invited LAICO to deliver a customized version of the 2 week programme manager’s course for their programme staff. A four day training programme was organized by LAICO for their Sydney office for their central office staff as well as the country programme staff. Fred Hollows Foundation supports eye care in South Asia, South East Asia, Africa as well as to the indigenous population of Australia. A total of 21 participants attended the workshop. The LAICO training team comprised of Mr. R.D.Thulasiraj, Executive Director, LAICO, Dr Prajna, Aravind-Madurai, and Ms Preethi Pradhan, Senior faculty, LAICO. The sessions covered included needs assessment and planning, the eye diseases module covering cataract, refractive errors, diabetic retinopathy, low vision and paediatric eye care; core concepts in eye care management as well as monitoring evaluation and partner enablement.

World Diabetes Day was celebrated at Aravind-Madurai on November 14, to create awareness among the public about diabetes and its complications. Diabetic retinopathy is one of the complications of diabetes which affects blood vessels in the eye. The theme of this year's World Diabetes Day campaign is Diabetes in Children and Adolescents”

As part of the day’s Programme a “Mega Awareness Programme” was organized in collaboration with Dinamalar at Lakshmi Sundram hall, Madurai for the diabetic patients and public. Dr. R. Lakshmipathy, Publisher, Dinamalar, inaugurated the Programme and Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice Chairman, AECS gave a special address. Around 470 persons were participated in the Programme.

Mr. Raja (Pattimandra Pugal) delivered the guest’s address. Following this, “Patient and Doctor Interaction” session was conducted. The respective specialist answered the questions and participants’ doubts were clarified. Dr. K. Naresh babu delivered the vote of thanks.

A new Vision Centre was inaugurated on October 10 at Kinathukadavu by Dr. Narendran, CMO, Aravind-Coimbatore. It is 28 Kms from base hospital. Aravind has blended information technology innovatively into the center facilitating online (live) consultation for each patient with the Ophthalmologist at Aravind-Coimbatore which is a low cost telemedicine approach. This approach which is unique helps patients acquire right treatment advice directly from Ophthalmologist which saves lot of time and money to the patients. The center charges a nominal charge of Rs.20/- for outpatient visits. A total of 35 outpatients were registered on inaugural day.

Aravind Eye Care System launched the 4th edition of Neuro-ophthalmology text book on October 4, 2007. The launch function was held at Aravind Eye hospital during the Grand Rounds and telecasted to all the five hospitals. Dr. Pararajasegaram, Consultant, WHO, released the book. Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System, received the first copy in the presence of Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice-chairman. The fourth edition of Neuro-ophthalmology book was edited by Dr. Mahesh Kumar, Consultant, Department of Neuro-Ophthalmology, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai. Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice-chairman, Aravind Eye Care System, in her speech recalled how the book had evolved over the past 4 editions with the 1st edition appearing in 1982 and which was popular among all the ophthalmology post graduate students in the country for the past 25 years.

Aravind Eye Care System launched eight training manuals as an offering to Dr. V on his 89th birth anniversary on October 1, 2007. Of the eight manuals, five are in the Ophthalmic Assistants Training series and the remaining three are in the Training in Eye Care support services series.

The launch function was held at the LAICO auditorium in the presence of foreign dignitaries, special invitees, Aravind leaders, staff and employees. Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice Chairman, AECS, while delivering her welcome address, explained in detail the genesis of the training manuals as visualised and aspired by Dr. V.

Dr. Willam F. Astle, President of the Joint commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (JCAHPO) released the books. In his speech he dwelt on the association between JCAHPO and AECS and said that his organization has approved Aravind’s MLOPs training programmes in the year 1995. He expressed his happiness over the content of the new books and presented mementos to Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Dr. G. Nachiar and Dr. Usha Kim.

Dr. Usha Kim, Head of the MLOPs education and training programme spoke on the manuals. Dr. William H. Ehlers, President-Elect, JCAHPO, Ms. Lynn, Dr. Anderson, Executive Director of JCAHPO, Dr. Suzanne S. Gilbert, Director, Centre for Innovation in Eye Care, Seva Foundation, Dr. Pararajasegaram, WHO, Ms. Kathryn Hecht, Seva Volunteer from USA offered felicitations. Ms. Pattammal proposed vote of thanks.

Aurolab’s new facility was inaugurated at veerapanchan, in the beautiful Aurofarm complex, by Dr. Allen Foster, President, Christoffel Blinden Mission International, Germany on 30th September, 2007.

Dr. Foster said that the number of visually challenged people in the world has now come down to 37 million from the projected figure of 57 million thanks to the efforts of eye care systems such as Aravind. Such an effort was possible because of the vision, intelligence and passion with which AECS went about its job of preventing needless blindness. Providing good quality services at low cost for a high number of cases speak volumes about the efficiency and effectiveness of their eye care delivery system, he further said.

Offering felicitations, David Green, U.S. consultant, said Aurolab had a key role to play in catering to the medical needs of people belonging to the low income group by manufacturing and providing low-cost intraocular lens and other ophthalmic materials.

Collector S.S. Jawahar said AECS has become synonymous with quality, and the services rendered by them was remarkable.

Suzanne S. Gilbert, Director, Centre for Innovation in Eye Care, Seva Foundation, U.S., recalled how a survey in Nepal, which indicated more than half of the population were functionally blind when they shunned the use of thick spectacles after cataract surgery, propelled Dr. G. Venkataswamy, AECS founder, to start an exclusive production unit for manufacture of intraocular lenses at affordable cost.

Commending the services rendered to society by AECS, Karumuttu T. Kannan, managing director, Thiagarajar Mills, said Aravind Hospital had etched the name of the city in the world map. It had become a role model for other institutions.

Showering accolades on the founder of AECS, R. Pararajasekaran, consultant, World Health Organisation, said at a time when everyone exercised more caution than optimism while considering introduction of intraocular lens (IOL) in developing countries, it was Dr. Venkataswamy’s proactive approach which facilitated introduction of IOL in the country.

P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS, G. Srinivasan, president, Aurolab Trust, P. Balakrishnan, Managing Director, Aurolab, S. Rethinavelu, president, Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, took part.

Gandhigram Vision Centre was inaugurated on September 17 by the Freedom Fighter LKB Lagumaiah and Dr.Kousalya Devi, Managing Trustee, Gandhigram in the presence of Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS, Mr. G. Srinivasan, President, Govel Trust and Dr. G. Natchiyar, Vice Chairman, AECS, Mr.M.R.Rajagopal, Secretary, Gandhigram Trust, Mr.K.Shivakumar, Treasurer, Gandhigram Trust and many other dignitaries.

Gandhigram is located at 56 Km away from Madurai. The Vision Centre will provide Eye Care to the population of 1, 00,000. This is a first Vision Centre of Aravind in the Dindigul District.

The António Champalimaud Vision Award was presented to the Aravind Eye Care System at a ceremony in Lisbon. Chairman Dr. P. Namperumalsamy received the award.

On September 7 the inaugural of António Champalimaud Vision Award Ceremony was held at Lisbon, Portugal. The award carries with it 1 million Euros. The ceremony was taken place in the presence of the President of the Portuguese Republic, Aníbal Cavaco Silva. Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice-Chairman, Mr. G. Srinivasan, Director-Finance, Mr. R.D. Thulasiraj, Executive Director, LAICO also participated in the Ceremony.

The 22nd National Eye Donation Fortnight celebrations held at LAICO auditorium on the 6th September 2007 threw ample light on the gloomy situation of corneal blindness in India and also the imperative of taking measures to solve the problem.

Dr. M. Srinivasan, Director, A.E.C.S. in his special address revealed the stunning statistics of blindness caused by corneal damages and explained the services being rendered by Aravind Eye Bank. It is a good news for all those who are involved in promoting eye donations that two important requests made by him in this connection were responded on the spot by the District Collector Mr. S. S. Jawahar who delivered his presidential address in the function.

The Collector accepted one of the requests and announced that action will be taken in one week to issue free bus passes to the persons who bring donor eyes from outstations to the Eye Banks like Rotary Aravind International Eye Bank which are situated in cities. Dr. M. Srinivasan while drawing the attention of the Collector the difficulty in getting eyes from the bodies of dead persons had made a plea that the Human Organs Donation Act be amended to simplify the procedures pertaining to removal of eyes from the mortal remains. The Collector assured that he would talk to the concerned higher officials in this reagard.

As against the demand of 75,000 corneas per year for the purpose of restoring sight to the corneally blind, only 30,000 are available as at present. If the legal procedures are simplified, it will help to meet out the demand, Dr. M. S. had averred in his speech.

Emphasising the importance of eye donation, Dr. M. S. said that the Union Government has accorded utmost priority to controlling blindness under the National Programme for Control of Blindness. Of all the health related programmes, the blindness control programme is given much significance by celebrating the National Eye Donation Fortnight instead of celebrating it on a single day.

Whereas cataract affects mostly aged people, the majority of those suffering from corneal blindness are children and youngsters. For want of adequate number of donor corneas and for not having access to treatment facilities, many of these young people remain blind for most part of their life, Dr. M. S. said.

He informed that compared to other States, the performance of Tamilnadu in eye donation movement is much better. Last year it stood first in eye donations among all the states of India, the position previously held by Gujarat and Maharashtra. This achievement has been made possible by the members of Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and other Non-Governmental Service organisations who are working relentlessly for eye donations. Dr. M. S. thanked and congratulated the eye donation motivators.

Collector Mr. Jawahar honoured top performers in the collection of eye donations with mementos. He lauded the efforts of Aravind Eye Hospitals and various organisations and also the individuals who are engaged in eye donation movement. He said that school and college students as well as members of self-help groups should be involved in this effort.

Mr. Varaprasada Rao, Chief Divisional Retail Sales Manager of the Indian Oil Corporation said that awareness programme on eye donation would be conducted at all its 20,000 petrol pumps and gas stations.

Mr. Anabhayarajan, who has donated the eyes of his deceased sister 3 years ago and the eye of his expired child a few months back spoke on the need for eye donations.

Mr. Raghuraman, father of a small boy Bharat kalyan who has regained sight by donated eyes thanked Aravind and Eye Bank for their help. He pledged to donate his own eyes.

The function commenced with the invocation song by Mr. Sanil Joseph, Faculty. Dr. S. R. Krishna Das, C.M.O. welcomed the gathering. Mrs. Nirmala, Manager, Aravind Eye Bank proposed a vote of thanks.

Prior to the LAICO function, an Eye donation awareness rally was flagged off by Mr. K. Nandabalan, Police Commissioner at Goripalayam junction. School and college students, mostly ladies, participated in the rally that ended at the LAICO.

“Multiple Facets of My Madurai” written by the great artist Mr. Manohar Devadoss was formally launched in Madurai on August 25, 2007.The function was held at LAICO auditorium with the participation of VIPs, officials and writers. Aravind Eye Hospitals, Madurai Corporation City Technical Advisory group and Madurai Readers club had organized the function.

Dr. P.Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System welcomed the gathering. The audience had a dose of enchanting experiences of Manohar Devadoss, as he drew a leaf from his 'Multiple Facets of My Madurai,' a compendium of fine art coupled with realistic representations, to take them down memory lane.

Mr. Manohar explained how he, an artist, turned into a writer. With a fading vision, caused by retinitis pigmentosa (a degenerative eye condition for which there is no cure) and overwhelming urge to record childhood reminiscences, he has sketched his emotions in 'black and white,' literally though.

Given his penchant for intricate art work, it became increasingly difficult for him to depict what all he wished to achieve through painting and that led him to writing, which turned out to be quite complementing and refreshing.

J. Vasanthan, retired English professor of the American College, remembered how Mr. Manohar and his wife Mahema made an ideal and beautiful couple. He wondered whether anyone with tragedy pounding from all corners would ever be as cheerful and whole-hearted as this couple. "Either that person would turn a 'Bible thumper' (read religious) or become an atheist. But not Manohar," he said in appreciation of their resilience.

Paying glorious tributes, Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System, said that the exponent had in possession the artistic vision to present pictures with details, which many would have missed. He said that Mr. Manohar could not benefit from the Aravind Eye Hospitals but the organisation had benefited from his benevolence. The author announced that the proceeds from the sale of a portion of his paintings would go to Aravind Eye Hospitals.

The Deputy Commissioner of Madurai Corporation, Mr. A. Ramachandran, released the first copy of the book which was received by Mr. Karumuttu T. Kannan, Chairman, Thiagarajar Mills. Mr. B.T. Bangera, President of Madurai Corporation Advising Group and Mr. R. Raja Govindasamy, Principal (in charge), Thiagarajar College, also paid tributes to the author.

Tibet Seva Sight Programme has signed a MoU with Kandze People’s Hospital in Oct 2006 to develop an exclusive eye hospital, Kham Eye Centre at Dartsedo, Eastern Tibet, China. In continuation to this, a team from LAICO comprising of Dr. R. D. Ravindran, Mr. Keerti Pradhan, Ms. Preethi Pradhan and Ms. Sasipriya KM made a visit to Kandze People’s Hospital (Kham Eye Centre) from August 14 -19 to carry out Needs Assessment Visit and conduct a Strategic Planning workshop to guide the team in planning the growth of the Kham Eye Centre in phased manner from the existing eye department to new set up. As part of the Needs Assessment Visit, LAICO team made field visits to a County Hospital and Primary Health Centre (Township hospital) to develop better understanding about current practices, process, community set up etc. Mr. Kunga Tashi, Programme Manager and Ms. Dolma Chugi, Programme Assistant, Tibet Seva Sight Programme, in addition to the overall visit co-ordination, also played a major role as Interpreters.

Mr. D. Nagarajan - SEVA Board Member, Dr. Sandra Dratler - Volunteer, SEVA Foundation & Mr.Suresh kumar- Faculty from LAICO visited the Kilimanjaro Center for Community Ophthalmology (Moshi, Tanzania) and Al Noor Foundation (Cairo, Egypt) during the first two weeks of August 2007 as a part of visioning process to the concerned Centre of Community Ophthalmology (CCO). Their purpose was to lead a process with each organization to establish a vision for their CCO development focused on 2010. In each organization the process was undertaken with full support of leadership and active participation from key staff members. As an outcome of the visit a detailed action plans was prepared for each organization. The team enjoyed the weekend by exploring Tarengari and Ngorongoro National Parks & at Egypt admired the Citadel overlooking a hazy Cairo; the National Museum; observing the technological wonders that are the Giza pyramids.

As a mark of commemorating his father Mr. Murosoli Maran's 73rd birth anniversary, Mr. Kalanidhi Maran, founder of the Sun Foundation has donated Rs.15 lakhs to Aravind Eye Care System for performing 2000 cataract operations for the poor people in the community. To hand over personally the donation, Mr. Dayanidhi Maran, Mrs. Kaviri Kalanidhi Maran and Sun Foundation members visited Aravind.

A special function was held on 18th August 2007 in LAICO Auditorium for this purpose.
Mr. Sanil Joseph, Faculty, rendered invocation song.
Dr. M. Srinivasan, Director – AECS, welcomed the guests.
Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman of AECS, in his special address explained the genesis of eye camp movement and the services being rendered by Aravind.
Mr. R. Meenakshi sundaram, Senior Manager - Outreach, gave a brief about AECS camp services.

Following this Mr. Dayanidhi Maran explained about Sun Foundation’s services to the poor people. He announced that the collaboration with Aravind will continue in the forthcoming years also with increased donation for restoring sight to poor people.

Mrs. Kaviri Kalanidhi Maran handed over the cheque to Dr. P. Namperumalsamy.

Mr. G. Srinivasan, President of Govel Trust, presented mementos to Mr. Dayanidhi Maran and Mrs. Kaviri Kalanidhi Maran.

The function ended with the vote of thanks by Dr. Krishna Das, Chief Medical Officer of Aravind, Madurai.

The new vision centre was inaugurated at Periyanaickenpalayam on August 15 by Dr. Narendran, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind - Coimbatore. It is 27 Kms from Coimbatore.14 Outpatients were registered on inaugural day. Aravind has blended information technology innovatively into the center facilitating online (live) consultation for each patient with the Ophthalmologists at the Aravind - Coimbatore which is a low cost telemedicine approach. This approach is unique helps patients acquire right treatment advice directly from Ophthalmologists which saves lot of time and money to the patients.

A Team from Google foundation, Mr. Larry Brilliant Executive Director, Ms. Kirsten Olsen and Ms. Ki Mun, Project Managers at Google.org, Dr. Frank Rijsberman, Director at Google.org, Ms. Sonal Shah is also with Google.org and is an expert in global poverty and sustainable developments were at Aravind-Madurai on August 10, to learn about Aravind Eye Care system.

Ms. Veni, Administrator, LAICO visited USA from July 15-August 5. The main purpose of this trip was to visit various universities and get exposure in administration with special focus to planning, marketing, organizing, and evaluating the regular executive training programmes and CME programmes offered at Aravind.

Strategic Perspectives in Non Profit Management
Harvard University, Boston, July 15-21
Ms. Veni attended a weeklong course on “Strategic Perspectives in Non profit Management” at Harvard Business School. A total of 140 candidates participated from various non profit sectors. 72% of the participants were from the United States and the rest were from other countries.

Ms. Veni visited Michigan University and Chelsea Hospital in USA from July 22-28. There she had discussions with Mr. Ron Bendersky, Executive Director of Executive Education Programme, and Dr. Van Harrison, Director, Department of Medical Education. She visited Chelsea Hospital and met Ms. Cindy Harrison and other department heads.

In California Ms. Veni visited Stanford University, Berkeley University and Seva office from July 29-August 5. At Berkeley, she visited the Optometry and Health Science Library, Hass Business School at University of Berkeley and the International Housing facilities. She also had the opportunity to visit the Programme office of AAO, Google Campus and Seva Office. At the end of her visit, she went to the Stanford University and met with the Programme team of Student Data Base, the Executive Education Programme team and the Public Management Programme team. Ms. Veni had a brief tour of all the Universities to observe the class room facilities, technology used and its administrative functions and had the opportunity to meet the concerned department seniors and discuss about their concerned activities and challenges related to the education and training activities.

It is with great pleasure we announce that Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Professor of Technology & Technical Education, Anna University, Chennai, formerly the Honourable President of India has consented to be the Visiting Professor and Advisor of Dr. G. Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute from 30th July 2007.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Hospital was invited to participate in the PURA Consultative’s Meeting which was held at Gandhigram Rural University on 27th July 2007. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, formerly President of India, actively participated in this meeting. During the meeting, Chairman expressed his view that one vision center may be considered in Gandhigram as a part of PURA.

Aravind Tele-ophthalmology Network (ATN) Retreat was held at LAICO on July 28 to manage the present challenges and realize the newer opportunities.

Realizing the potential of providing quality tertiary eye care and contributing to continuous education irrespective of challenges like accessibility and availability, Aravind Eye Care System has extended the scope of utility of information technology by setting up Aravind Tele-ophthalmology Network (ATN) in June 2002. Now stepping in its fifth year this network has thus far taken different initiatives

- Benefiting patients be it at the level of primary or tertiary eye care
- Providing impetus to our training programmes
- Enabling to foster closer ties across Aravind Eye Care System

Aravind is also exploring various options to make this technology user-friendly. One of the major milestones will be the day we start our Virtual Academy.

A two day CME on Current Practices in Glaucoma was held at Aravind-Tirunelveli from July 21-22 under the guidance of Dr.R.Ramakrishnan, CMO. The main purpose of this CME was to get familiarized with the changes and to get update. Ophthalmologists representing various States of our country, Postgraduates and Fellows, Trainees from Aravind Eye Hospital attended the CME. Experts who are richly experienced in practical management of Glaucoma were invited as Faculty members to discuss the recent advances and developments at a great length.

The inaugural function commenced with prayer song. Dr. G.R. Reddy lighted the kuthuvillaku. Dr.Vinay Nangia, Dr.Velayutham, and Dr.Devendra Sood participated in the function.

The Aravind Eye Care System has started the Third Managed Care Eye Hospital “Sudarshan Netralaya” in Association with Nagardas Dhanji Shanghvi Trust at Amreli, Gujarat. The eye hospital has 30 beds and will catering to the Eye Care needs of Amreli and the neighboring districts.

The Hospital was inaugurated on July 20, 2007 by Swami Shri Sachchidanandji, Shri Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi, Managing Director of Sun Pharmaceuticals Ltd, and Padmashree Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman of Aravind Eye Care System.

Dr. P.Namperumalsamy participated in the inauguration of Silver Jubilee of “Indian Intraocular Implant & Refractive Surgery Convention" at Chennai. He was felicitated by the Society for the Award of Padmashree conferred on him by the President of India.

He chaired the session on “Raising the bar in cataract and refractive surgery”.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy attended the 3rd Pacific Health Summit was invited by the National Bureau of Asia Research (NBR).

The main purpose of this meeting was to create a link between the health care providers and the service organizations and to provide a platform for brainstorming policies, medical practices, research and public health in the various developing countries. This is also aimed at finding realistic policy solutions that will impact on how diseases are detected and treated worldwide.

This meeting was attended by leading industrialists, technologists, heads of health departments in various countries, WHO, Senators, CEO of Universities like Duke University and Washington University, representatives from Global Health care, General Electrical health care, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation etc. The objective of the meeting was promoting health services in the developing world.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy met Dr. Dunbar Hopkins, Executive Vice President of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and discussed with him the possibilities of working together of American Academy and Aravind Virtual Academy by utilizing the teaching and training materials, digital library developed by AAO for the benefit of the residents and the faculty in India. He participated in the Seva Staff Meeting which was arranged to felicitate Dr. PN for his Padmashree Award.

He visited the University of Iowa on June 19, 20 for a meeting with Drs. Wallace Alward, John Fingert, Edwin Stone, Val Sheffield to discuss about the ongoing research projects with the research team in genetics of albinism and glaucoma and the forthcoming research projects in diabetic retinopathy and other developments.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy also had interactions with the leaders of research and development at Alcon at its headquarters in Dallas, Texas on June 21.

He also met Dr. Lloyd Paul Aiello of Joslin Diabetic Center, Boston, Dr. Bradford Shingleton of Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston and Dr. Joan Miller, the Chairman of Mass Eye and Ear infirmary and discussed with them about future collaborations.

A New Vision Centre was inaugurated at Marakkanam on July 14. Dr. A. Dharamarajan, Joint Director of Health Services, Villupuram inaugurated the centre. Dr. R.D. Ravindran, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Venkatesh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Thiruvenkatakrishnan, Senior Medical Officer, received the guests and showed them the facilities provided in the centre. Kuthuvilakku was lit by Sponsors, BSNL officials and paramedical staff. Cross section of people from BSNL, Bank, Police Department, Schools & Government Departments participated in the function. It is important to note that first Broad Band Connection to Marakkanam was extended by BSNL officials at our request, which helped us to inaugurate the centre. It is a record that on the first day itself the vision centre’s Out Patient Department registered 82 patients, out of whom 20 were prescribed glasses.

Rameshwaram Vision Centre was inaugurated on July 11, 2007 by Haji. A. P. J. M. Maraickayer in the presence of Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS, Mr. G. Srinivasan, President, Govel Trust and Dr. Krishnadas, CMO, AEH-Madurai. Rameshwaram which is 180 Km away from Madurai and its surroundings do not have any eye care facility. The population of 1, 50,000 have to travel about 60km to Ramanathapuram for all their eye care needs. This is a first Vision Centre of Aravind in an Island. This Vision Centre project is supported by “National Program for Control of Blindness”, Govt of India.

The first Memorial Day of Dr. V was observed on 07-07-07 in Aravind - Madurai and all other centres of Aravind.

A number of meetings were held in the evening to celebrate the memory of the father of Aravind Eye Care System in which the chairman Dr.P.N and other senior leaders and staff paid tributes to the greate soul. They reminisced their association with the Chief and pledged to carry forward his mission.

Dr. K. Naresh Babu, Aravind-Madurai, Mr. V. Vijayakumar, Diabetic Retinopathy and Mr. S.P. Venkatesh, Faculty from LAICO visited International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) with generous support from the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, The “Peking University Eli Lilly Diabetic Eye Disease Center” was established on March 20, 2007 at PUEC, Beijing, China to decrease avoidable visual impairment and blindness due to diabetes. Recognizing the challenge of diabetic eye disease, multiyear consultation with Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology (LAICO) was planned.

The purpose of the consultancy visit was to provide consultation to achieve the specific goals for which ELDEDC is being set up in order to promote Diabetic Retinopathy services in China.

Objectives of the visit:

• Help in the development of a detailed strategic plan for setting up of effective diabetic retinopathy services
• Assist in designing academic training for DR
• Develop performance metrics and a system to facilitate easy monitoring of the program
• Provide technical inputs on a continuous basis against requests from PUEC.

The team made a Needs Assessment Visit to PUEC-ELDEDC on June 20-21, to understand the working systems and procedures at ELDEDC both in clinical and management areas and to understand and analyze the existing resources available at ELDEDC.

Based on the observations during the needs assessment visit, the team made some recommendations to the PUEC-ELDEDC team.

After the initial assessment, the team organized the internal strategic planning meeting with the ELDEDC team (Retina specialists and paramedical staff) on June 25-26. The PUEC-ELDECD team prepared the strategies and action plan to achieve their project objectives.

In recognition of its contribution towards the alleviation of visual problems, Aravind Eye Care System has been awarded the Antonio Champalimaud Vision Award which carries a cash of 1 million Euros. It has been awarded for the first time this year, by the Champalimaud Foundation, a Portuguese organization.
About the Award:
The Champalimaud Foundation has instituted an annual award of 1 million Euros. This will be awarded for outstanding contributions by way of eye care services and research in vision and associated areas. The Vision Award will have a strong bias towards work that had a major impact in the delivery of eye care services or in the case of research that provided major breakthroughs in the understanding of vision resulting in the alleviation of visual impairment and blindness. The award has the support of Vision 2020 – The Right to Sight, a global initiative for the prevention of blindness. The first award, to be given in 2007, is for contributions to the alleviation of visual problems, primarily in developing countries.
The award was formally announced on June 30th through a video broadcast on YouTube. The award will be presented at a ceremony on September 7th in Lisbon, Portugal.

Mr. R.D.Thulasiraj, and Dr. S. Aravind were at Indian Institute of Management to take a session on AECS’s Management Consultation on Health Care in India on June 26-28.

Dr Kalpana Narendran, Senior Medical Officer, Aravind-Coimbatore, Ms. Sasipriya KM, Faculty and Mr. Venkatesh SP, Faculty made a Needs Assessment visit to SNC, Chitrakoot as part of Aravind ORBIS POLTC Project II. The key objective of this visit was to assess the current set up, resources, facilities etc. That would enable SNC run quality training programmes developing Paediatric ophthalmology team (excluding long term fellowship for doctors) thus become a regional POLTC with the support of ORBIS International. Aravind along with ORBIS India would provide adequate support based on the recommendations given by the visiting team.

Inauguration of new vision centre at Thirukkanur was took place on June 18. The function was facilitated by Mr. Marshal Antony, General Manager, BSNL and Mr. T.S.A. Kannan, Lions club President. The Programme started with welcome address by Mr. Palaniraj. The inaugural speech was given by Dr. R.D. Ravindran, Chief Medical Officer of Aravind-Puducherry. On the first day of vision centre 64 out patients were registered, 23 were advised for glasses, 19 were delivered spectacles and 10 were referred to the base hospital for speciality services. Aravind-Puducherry is planning for the second vision centre at Marakkanam to be inaugurated in the first week of July.

June 4, 2007 will remain as a red letter day in the event-calendar of Aravind’s Ocular Prosthetic Centre. It was on that day the centre delivered its 1000th prosthetic eye to a patient whose natural eye had to be substituted.

The Ocular Prosthetic Centre was started in September 2004. Since then it is fabricating customized synthetic eyes to suit the need of individual patients. These eyes more or less restore the original shape of a patient’s face whose eyes got damaged in accident or enucleated due to incurable eye disease, like retinoblastoma. On June 4, 2007 the clinic delivered its 1000th prosthetic eye.

Alimera Sciences, CTMS and Harrison Clinical Research are jointly sponsoring a trial of an innovative treatment option for patients with Diabetic Macular Edema. For this purpose they have decided to enroll a total number of 900 patients in various parts of the globe. 65% enrollment has been completed so far. The purpose of the study is to increase the quality of life for people with Diabetic Macular Edema.

A large number of ophthalmologists practicing at various places across the world have been enlisted for enrolling patients who give consent to subject themselves to the new treatment trial. It was targeted to enroll 200 patients in India by April, 2007. However 130 randomized patients have been enrolled during this period and the enrollment continues.

“Alimera sciences Global Newsletter” has mentioned the names of Dr. Narendran, Aravind-Coimbatore, Dr. Ravindran, Aravind-Puducherry and Dr. Ramakrishnan, Aravind-Tirunelveli in the enrollment performance column. Out of the 7 doctors who have enrolled the 130 patients for the study in India, the share of the Aravind doctors stands at 59. The break up Dr. Narendran-28, Dr. Ravindran- 27, Dr. Ramakrishnan-4.
congratulations to our doctors for their contribution to the enrollment drive

Compassionate world-class eye care at an affordable cost, has come to serve Kolkata and other areas in the eastern part of the country with the formal inauguration of Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital in its own new 5 storeyed facility by Shri Somnath Chatterjee, Hon’ble Speaker, Lok Sabha, in Kolkata. While opening the Hospital, the M P Birla Group’s latest contribution to the city’s healthcare facilities, Shri Chatterjee described it as a “wonderful gift” to the city of Kolkata and “great acquisition” for the city. Appreciating the commitment of the M P Birla Group towards serving society he said the inspirations and efforts behind setting up the Hospital were to be cherished.

Initially the hospital with the nomenclature of M.P. Birla Eye Hospital was started in December, 2001 with the clinical and administrative support of Aravind. In 2006, the hospital was moved to its own new 5 storeyed building with the name of Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital.

Shri Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, Mayor of Kolkata, said the hospital had come in keeping with Kolkata’s pace of progress. Appreciating the philanthropic activities of the Group, he said it’s Chairman, Shri Rajendra S Lodha, had been working in realizing the dreams of Smt Priyamvada Birla. With the setting up of Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital, it would no longer be necessary to go to the South for eye treatment.

Shri Rajendra S Lodha, Chairman, M P Birla Group, said the Hospital, established in collaboration with Aravind Eye Hospital and Post-Graduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Madurai, was a major step in realizing the dream of Smt Priyamvada Birla to have a world-class institution of ophthalmology in Kolkata. He emphasized that more than 60% of eye surgeries would be almost free of cost at the Hospital. “Our aim is to eradicate needless blindness in this part of the country on the strength of well-trained and highly-motivated staff, doctors, optometrists, nurses and others. In this Hospital, we plan to treat 250,000 patients annually and perform 20,000 surgeries a year, including 100 corneal transplants”, he added.

Dr P Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System and President Aravind Medical Research Foundation, Dr. G. Natchiar, Director (HRD), Aravind Eye Care System and Dr. S.Aravind, Administrator, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai and other eminent personalities were present during the function.

Dr P Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System said Aravind’s “relationship with the M P Birla Group is just a beginning and together we will strive in eradicating needless blindness in this part of the country. He said that in association with ISRO “we have V-Sat Tele-Medicine Connectivity with all our hospitals, which is also linked with universities like Wilmer Johns Hopkins. Through this facility, all the patients can receive the expertise of specialists. The Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital will have all expertise, including well-qualified medical and paramedical staff, equipment and other facilities to address the sight-threatening eye diseases. This joint endeavor serves all the needy people”. He announced that the Union Ministry of Human Resource has been approached for permission to set up Aravind University for Ophthalmic Sciences.

At a press meet, Dr P Namperumalsamy, Dr. G. Natchiar , Doctors and Senior Executives of Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital told that this Hospital is equipped to perform the much talked about corneal surgeries like Limbal Stem Cell Transplant (Direct) and Deep Stromal Anterior Keratoplasty, where different components of a single cornea is used successfully in multiple patients. The Hospital has a functional Eye Donation Centre to spread awareness and will soon start the Hospital Corneal Retrieval Programme (HCRP).The 40,000-sq. ft Hospital, with modern infrastructure, will provide emergency services, supported by super-speciality eye clinics and seven state-of-the-art operation theatres. The services offered include comprehensive eye check-up, orbit oculoplasty, glaucoma, cataract & IOL, uvea, retina and vitreous, paediatric ophthalmology & strabismus and day-care facility.

Priyamvada Birla Aravind Eye Hospital will introduce outreach services, including free screening camps in schools and rural areas, as well as senior citizens’ awareness meetings and teachers training programmes. It has joined hands with the Vision 2020-The Right to Sight movement to eliminate blindness by 2020, launched by WHO and a task force of international NGOs.

Kallidaikurichi Vision Center was inaugurated on May 16, 2007 by Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind-Tirunelveli. It is 30 Kms away from Tirunelveli. 73 patients were registered on the inaugural day at Out patients department, which was the highest ever among all the vision centers on the inaugural day.

Srivaikuntam Vision Centre was inaugurated on May 18, 2007 by Dr. R. Ramakrisnan, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind-Tirunelveli. It is 28 Kms from Tirunelveli. 50 Outpatients were registered on the first day.
Aravind has blended information technology innovatively into these two centers facilitating online (live) consultation for each patient with the ophthalmologists at the Aravind-Tirunelveli which is a low cost telemedicine approach. This approach which is unique helps patients acquire right treatment advice directly from ophthalmologists which saves lot of time and money to the patients. These centers charge a nominal charge of Rs.20 /- for outpatient visits. The services include Comprehensive Eye screening, refraction, first aid, active referral, school screening and creating awareness and eye health education and prescription and dispensing of spectacles for the refractive error patients at the centre on the same day. Other services like testing for diabetes, etc. are also provided. In addition to the above said services, irreversible blind persons are identified by the field workers and rehabilitated through appropriate training on life skills.

From the Aravind optical shops at Madurai, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Puducherry five of our staff led by Er.G.Srinivasan, Dr.Kalpana from Aravind-Coimbatore, Mrs.R.Saradha Devi Aravind-Tirunelveli, Sr.Sivasankari, and Sr.Prema from Lakshmi opticals from Aravind-Madurai attended the convention on May 13-17 A total of 700 delegates from Asian Countries, 110 people from Australia Countries, and 66 from India participated in the Convention. It was a good experience for the staff of optical Section. Management Courses, Customer Satisfaction Course, New Developments in Ophthalmic Lens Field Course were held in the Convention. They learnt a lot about modern trend of optical business and also the new types of lens which are going to be introduce a in the market.

We are happy to inform you that free section of Aravind-Madurai received and treated a highest number of 759 outpatients on May 7, 2007. It included 504 new and 255 review patients. Inpatient number on that day was 241(cataract 233, others 18).

Two new Vision Centers were inaugurated on April 26. The Vision Center at Alanganallur (23 Kms from Madurai) was inaugurated by Dr. M. Srinivasan, Director-Aravind Eye Hospital. And the other at Tirupuvanam (19 Kms from Madurai) was inaugurated by Mr. R.D. Thulasiraj, Executive Director-LAICO.

Aravind has blended information technology innovatively into these centers facilitating online (live) consultation for each patient with the ophthalmologists at the Aravind-Madurai which is a low cost telemedicine approach. This approach which is unique helps patients acquire right treatment advice directly from ophthalmologists which saves lot of time and money to the patients. These centers charge a nominal cost of Rs.10 /- for outpatient visits. The services include Comprehensive Eye screening, refraction, first aid, active referral, school screening and creating awareness and eye health education and promotion and dispensing of spectacles for the refractive error patients at the centre on the same day. Other services like testing for diabetes, etc. are also provided. This facilitates counselling these patients on the significance of diabetes and its direct implication to eyes in the form of blinding but preventable eye conditions like diabetic retinopathy. Outreach screening camps for specialty eye problems like diabetic retinopathy will be conducted twice a year at each vision centre. In addition to the above said services, irreversible blind persons are identified by the field workers and rehabilitated through appropriate training on life skills. Each centre is run by a well trained ophthalmic technician, a Counsellor / and 2 Eye Health workers.

Three articles on ocular involvement in Chickungunya infection written by doctors of Aravind Eye Hospital have been accepted for publication by prestigious journals. Of the three articles, two are written by Tirunelveli doctors and one is by Madurai doctors.

The fact that Eye is affected by Chickungunya virus has been proved by Serological test through the Virology Institute at Pune.


The titles and authors of the articles from Tirunelveli are given below:

1. Optic Neuritis related with Chikungunya Virus infection epidemic in South India by Apoorva Mittal, Saurabh Mittal, Jayahar Bharati, Rengappa Ramakrishnan,S. Saravanan, Padmakar S Sathe. This article has been accepted by the Ophthalmology (blue journal). article has been accepted by the Ophthalmology (blue journal).
2. Uveitis associated with epidemic outbreak of Chikungunya virus fever by Apoorva Mittal, Saurabh Mittal, Jayahar Bharati, R. Ramakrishnan, Padmakar S Sathe. This article has been accepted by the Archives of Ophthalmology.

The title and authors of article from Madurai is given below:

1. Ocular Involvement Associated with an Epidemic Outbreak of Chikungunya Infection by Prajna Lalitha, Sivakumar Rathinam, Krishnadas Banushree, Shanmugam Maheshkumar, Rajendran Vijayakumar, Padmakar Sathe. This article has been accepted by American Journal of Ophthalmology.

Infomedia India, Modern Medicare and GE Healthcare in association with Association of Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) have recognized the contribution of Aravind to society by presenting their Modern Medicare Excellence inaugural award under the special Jury award category for Institutions.

Dr. S.R. Krishnadas, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind-Madurai received the award on behalf of the Chairman Dr. P. Namperumalsamy. The award was presented in a glittering ceremony in Bangalore and was attended by about 200 leaders of the Indian health industry, many of whom were also contenders for the several category of awards announced for the year 2006 by Info media and GE Healthcare. It is noteworthy that Modern Medicare, the No.1 magazine in the world of healthcare and technology acknowledges the phenomental work and contribution of the individuals/institutions involved in superior healthcare delivery services, through the MODERN MEDICARE EXCELLENCE AWARDS-2006. The Awards is an initiative by the publication to commemorate extraordinary work across the various quarters of the healthcare industry. While it celebrates superior healthcare, it also aims to reach out to the core of the healthcare delivery system and thereby, motivate the medical fraternity to continue to perform for excellence.

Many top institutions in the country were contenders for this recognition. It speaks highly of Aravind’s contribution to the cause of combating needless blindness in the society which has undoubtedly brought this coveted recognition.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System receives Padma Sri Award from President Dr. Abdul Kalam at a glittering function held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 23rd March, 2007.

A total of 14 Participants from California, Canada, Tanzania, Nepal, USA, UK, and India participated in the workshop. The workshop was held in recognition of the vital role of knowledge-seeking and sharing in strengthening sustainable eye care services. Research literature, case studies, training curricula, and management tool were developed.
Outcome:
To disseminate the eye care information through open access source
To promote other eye care centers and eye care personnel
To frame common web based plat Form to access globally
To standardize the Resource center more user friendly coordinating with other RC
To promote Resource Centre services for the aim of eliminating needless blindness

Management Training for Eye Care Programme Managers Course was conducted from February 19 - March 2. A total of 32 participants from 18 countries such as USA, UK, Cameroon, Uganda, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Ghana, Ireland, Bolivia, Tanzania, South Africa, Cambodia, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Mexico and Vietnam, participated in the course. This training was designed for professionals concerned with eye care Programme development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and funding. The main objectives of this training Programme was to enable the participants to acquire knowledge, skills and attitude to become effective in the eye care programme management.

The aim of the course was to help the candidates to :

• Learn to assess the magnitude of the problem and its implications
• Understand the gaps in service levels and issues relating to requirement and actual availability of resources
• Understand factors and challenges specific to eye care in Programme development
• Internalize the core concepts and strategies in the design and delivery of eye care services.
• Gain knowledge and skills in planning and prioritizing the eye care programmes and services including evidence based decision making
• Develop an understanding of various monitoring and evaluation methods/processes
• Gain knowledge and skills in grant monitoring and financial management
• Learn about managing change and solving problems
• Appreciate the role of networking and alliances for a greater impact

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System has been conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by All India Ophthalmological Society , in its 65 Conference held in Hyderabad this year. The Award will be presented at AIOS Conference to be held at Bangalore in 2008.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman of Aravind Eye Care System has been conferred with Padmashree Award for the year 2006.

The news of the New Year was announced on the occasion of India’s 57th Republic Day. As a recognition of Dr. P.N‘s illustrations contributions to the cause of illuminating the darkened lives of the millions suffering from visionlessness, he has been honored with this Award which will be presented by the President of India at a special function to be held later.

Dr. G. Venkataswamy was conferred the (L-Ramp) Award for his Innovation, a joint initiative by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) and Rural Innovations Network (RIN, Chennai), commenced in August 2004 with financial support from the Lemelson Foundation, USA). Dr.R.D.Ravindran received the L-Ramp Award on behalf of the Chief.

The objectives of this Programme are to, identify and nurture grassroots innovators and innovations that would help people in fulfilling their basic needs in an effective manner and there by, enhance people’s capacity in improving and sustaining their living conditions. As a team, IITM and RIN, with their expertise in technical and business domains respectively, hope that this “experimental project” in Tamil Nadu will become a worthwhile model to emulate in other regions of India and South Asia. More specifically, L-RAMP for Innovations, together with its partners, aim to provide technical and business mentoring and financial support to potential innovator and entrepreneurs, through the following stages

• Conceptualize ideas that address basic human needs and social development,
• Translate such concepts into technical designs,
• Develop and build prototypes,
• Test such prototypes, and
• Prepare business plans and establish viable enterprises producing such innovative products.

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam lays the foundation stone of Dr. G. Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute at Madurai. The function was held at the site of the planned new building of the Institute near the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology, opposite to Aravind Eye Hospital.

Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, Dr. Lloyd Paul Aiello, Director, Beetham Eye Institute, Joslin Diabetes Centre, Boston, USA, Mr. Dilip Sanghvi, Managing Director, Sun Pharmaceuticals Mumbai was the dignitaries participated and addressed the function. Dr. V. R. Muthukkaruppan, Director-Research, Aravind Medical Research Foundation delivered the welcome address. Mr. G. Srinivasan, Secretary, AMRF honored the President of India. Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, President AMRF, submitted the Project Report. Mr. R. D. Thulasiraj, Executive Director, LAICO proposed the vote of thanks.
Click here to view Dr. A.P.J. Abdul kalam's Speech

Lasik-Zyoptix Centre for correction of refractive errors was inaugurated on December 15 by Dr. Subba Rao, Director – JIPMER in the presence of Dr. Dilip Kumar Baliga, Director of Medical Services, Government of Pondicherry, Mr. G. Srinivasan, President, Govel Trust, Madurai and Dr. M. Srinivasan, Director, Aravind Eye Hospital.

“Zyoptix, the state-of-the-art in LASIK technology is designed specifically to treat each individual’s vision error in a customized manner. It has many advanced built-in safety features that help to optimize the success of the laser treatment. Zyoptix, like standard laser treatment, is fast and virtually painless”.

In the inauguration ceremony Dr. Subba Roa cut the ribbon declaring the inauguration of the centre and also lit the Kuthu Vilaku. In the meeting after the inauguration Dr. R.D. Ravindran, Joint Director & Chief Medical Officer, Aravind-Pondicherry welcomed the gathering by explaining the functioning of Aravind-Pondicherry and the necessity for opening the Lasik – Zyoptix Centre. Dr. M. Srinivasan, Director, Aravind-Madurai who has been performing Lasik procedures at Madurai Hospital for the last 8 years (performed more than 10,000 procedures) explained to the audience the genesis of refractive surgery through PowerPoint presentation and the importance and procedure of Lasik. Mr. G. Srinivasan, President, GOVEL Trust which runs the Aravind Eye Hospitals deliberated about the origin of Aravind Eye Hospital and how the Hospitals have grown up to the present level under the leadership of founder Dr. G. Venkataswamy and the services rendered by the hospital to the poor section of the society with the assistance of Lions, Rotary and other organizations. Dr. Dilip Kumar Baliga, Director of Medical Services, Government of Pondicherry, in his address highlighted how NGOs like Aravind Eye Hospital extend treatment to the people at an affordable cost. He also appreciated the services rendered by the Aravind Eye Hospital to the Pondicherry area.

Dr. Subba Rao, Director in his inaugural address dealt with in detail the various services rendered by Aravind Eye Hospitals and the Lasik Centre opened at Pondicherry will benefit the people in Pondy & surrounding areas as they need not travel a long distance to avail this facility. He also wished the Hospital for many more such achievements. The function ended by Vote of Thanks extended by Dr. R. Venkatesh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry. The meeting was well attended by more than 250 people from Lions / Rotary, other Government functionaries, Indian medical association, Pondicherry Ophthalmic Association.

Aravind Eye Hospital inaugurated its new branch at Tirupur on December 6.This is Aravind’s first Day Care Hospital. Dr. G. Natchiar Vice Chairman of Aravind Eye Care System inaugurated the New Hospital. Mr. G. Srinivasan, Director-finance, Dr. Aravind and well-wishers from in around Tirupur participated in the inauguration function. On the first day 49 patients visited the Hospital.

Aravind Eye Hospital inaugurated its new community Eye clinic at Tuticorin on November 27. Collector of Tuticorin lighted Koothuvilakku and opened the centre. Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind-Tirunelveli welcomed the gatherings. Dr. G. Natchiar, Vice Chairman Spoke about Aravind Founder Dr. G. Venkataswamy’s long cherished wish of opening this new branch and his dreams have been fulfilled on this auspicious day. She informed than a Vision Centre will soon be opened at Srivaikuntam and Cheranmadevi. Dr.P.Namperumalsamy, Chairman of Aravind Eye Hospital, Dr.M.Srinivasan and G.Srinivasan from AECS, Prominent medical professionalists, VIPs, industrialists from Tuticorin also participated in the function. Mr.S.T.Jayabalan, Manager Administration proposed vote of thanks.

A two day Symposium on Uvea was held at LAICO auditorium on 2nd and 3rd December, 2006.The Uvea specialists and Fellows, ophthalmic general practitioners, ophthalmic residents were participated in the programme.

The World Diabetes Day was celebrated at the Aravind Eye Hospital-CBE under the aegis of WDF Aravind Diabetic Retinopathy Project and Lions Club of Pollachi. The following Programmes were conducted in connection with Day.

Diabetes Exhibition was arranged to create awareness on Diabetics. Diabetic Retinopathy Programme was conducted at Aravind – Coimbatore from 13-18 November. 868 people visited the exhibition, free blood sugar checkup was done for every one above the age of 40 years. Diabetes was detected in 186 people. Ophthalmoscopic examination revealed diabetic retinopathy in 50 patients. Counselling on diabetic diet was done by a dietician who had good spread of the different varieties of food that were classified by its nutritive and caloric values. The necessity for regular ophthalmic evaluation for diabetic patients was stressed and free retinopathy screening was also done.

Mega Diabetes Detection Camp was conducted at Pollachi, free diabetes detection was done for 4640 people, and 10 blood sugar check up counters were arranged for a radius of 10kms. 1790 were detected with diabetes.

Human Chain Formation was arranged to create awareness on diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. The human chain formed for a distance of 10kms. 10,000 students from 12 schools, colleges and members of voluntary organizations like Lions Club, Rotary Club, Nehru yuva Kendra, LIC employees, art of living followers participated in the human chain. The Chief Guest for the Programme was Dr. Vijay Pingle, Sub Collector of Pollachi who inspected the 10kms of human chain formation from an open jeep. He was accompanied on the jeep by the Lions District Vice – Governor, WDF Aravind Diabetic Retinopathy Project Medical officer and the Lions Club office bearers.

Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Camp was arranged, at Pollachi in the Natchimuthu Gounder Polytechnic College Auditorium. At the screening camp 220 persons were examined including 180 diabetic patients. Ophthalmoscopic examination revealed 21 patients to have Diabetic Retinopathy.

Dr. V. Narendran, CMO, Aravind Eye Hospital – Coimbatore and Mr. S.P.Venkatesh, Faculty Associate – LAICO visited Comtrust Eye Hospital, Calicut. This Needs Assessment visit was a part of the Lions manpower management for Sight First supported Comtrust Eye Hospital. The purpose of the visit was to assess and review their current systems and procedures to help lay down the future direction.

Comtrust Eye Hospital belongs to an old and well known charitable Trust of Calicut, in the name of Comtrust Charitable Trust. This Trust was promoted by the age old company, Common Wealth Trust India Ltd., founded by Basel Mission (German Missionaries) which has a history of service in Calicut for over 150 years.

OPTIC- 2006 was conducted at Tirunelveli on November 5. The meeting began in memory of our Chief late Dr.G.Venkataswamy. Ms. Lakshmi, Manager - HRD welcomed the gathering. Mr. Ganesan, Office Administrator – DCW Ltd participated the Chief Guest and spoke about Self Motivation and Customer Satisfaction. Dr. Aravind, Administrator gave a special address and talked about the future expansion plans Aravind Eye Hospital. Essilor at Tirunelveli and Staff members representing the five branches of Optical Shop took part in the meeting. Mr. Murugesh presented the performance report of the five opticals for the year 2004 and 2005 and also compared with each one. Each Optical shop presented on different topics in the Programme. Ms. Kannamma proposed vote of thanks.

The Aravind team consisting of three members Dr. S.R. Krishnadas, CMO, AEH-Madurai, Mr. Sanil Joseph, Faculty-LAICO and Mr. Prasanth M., Assistant Administrator, AEH-Tirunelveli visited Kerala Institute of Medical Science to the Eye department. The purpose of the consultancy visit is to enhance the performance of the eye department in the line of Aravind and to separate it physically under the KIMS Charitable Trust. As the next step, key staff members from the institution will be participating in the one week Vision Building Workshop that is proposed to be held from 4th to 9th December, 2006 at LAICO.

Mr. Rajan - EDP Department and Mr. Pranesh – Telemedicine Visited Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) to attend the summit on Wireless Network Workshop and Training.

This was the first time World Wide Wireless Network Summit. They reached Dharamsala on 22nd October. M