Retinoblastoma(RB) is a fast-growing, often fatal type of eye cancer, affecting primarily children. This devastating disease robs children of their sight and often their lives, and places a huge financial burden on the family. In the developed countries, the cure rate is high when compared to India where there is a lack of awareness resulting in late presentation.

To create awareness on this serious sight-threatening disease, Aravind Madurai arranged several programmes on the occasion of International Retinoblastoma Week.

Dr. G. Natchiar was awarded the "For the Sake of Honour Award" by Rotary Club of Pondicherry Mid Town on April 7, 2013. The award recognizes her meritorious service to the field of ophthalmology.

She was also presented with the "Lifetime Achievement Award" by the Lions Clubs International District 324 A3 at a function held on April 20 in Pondicherry. The award came in recognition of her illustrious contribution to the field of eye care.

As part of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations, Aravind Eye Hospital – Tirunelveli organized a series of activities for the past two weeks starting with mega eye camp followed by motivational talks, press meet, eye care awareness exhibition and competitions for school children.

A specialty mega camp was conducted at M.D.TSchool, Tirunelveli on February 3. A total of 565 patients were screened, of which 70 patients were admitted for cataract surgery, 43 patients were diagnosed as having Glaucoma, 19 patients with retinal problems, 12 with Diabetic Retinopathy, 7 with Childhood blindness, 5 with Corneal disease and 6 with Orbital disorders. The patients were referred to base hospital for further treatment. The camp was sponsored by Nellai Motor TVS and Pandian Grama Bank.

Mr. R. Ganesan, Founder - Life Improvement Mind Engineering (LIME) delivered a motivational lecture titled Work is worship on February 2 for the MLOP staff.

A grand eye care awareness exhibition for the public was organized in the hospital from February 7 – 10. The exhibition provided insights into basic eye diseases and treatment options. Various models and posters were used to drive home the structure of the eye and the various parts of eye. Posters were put up by different departments and the MLOPs explained the information to the audience. The exhibition was officially inaugurated by Smt. Vijila Sathyanand, Mayor – Tirunelveli in the presence of Aravind’s senior management team. She delivered an inspirational speech regarding eye donation and importance of proper eye care. In her speech she mentioned the importance of government initiative to reduce the backlog of blindness. The exhibition received wide response from the public and as many as 2000 people visited the exhibition.

Along with the exhibition, competitions like Essay writing, Poster Making, Elocution and Quiz were conducted for the school children February 8. Various schools from in and around Tirunelveli district participated with great enthusiasm and won the prize. The Prizes were distributed to prize winners by Chief Guest, Mr.V.Balan, RTO - Deputy commissioner. Around 27 schools participated in the competitions.

On the occasion of Silver Jubilee celebrations, a CME titled “EYE OPENER 2013” was organised for general practitioners, general physicians, pediatricians, gynecologists and ophthalmologists. The purpose of this CME was to provide participants with the fundamentals of ophthalmology, practice and advances within the field, as well as to provide an opportunity for networking with professionals of diverse backgrounds in health care.

Pongal – the harvest festival was celebrated at all the centres of Aravind and Aurolab with a variety of programmes unique to the occasion. Elaborate celebrations included various cultural programmes like Karagattam, Kummipattu and Kolattam. Traditional games conducted as part of this provided the much-needed respite from the mundane work schedule. Pongal was prepared and distributed to all.

To reflect on the past developments and more importantly, to plan for the next 8 years of the growth of the organization, senior members from all the centres of Aravind Hospitals, Aurolab and AMRF were brought together for a three-day retreat at Hotel Fortune Pandiyan, Madurai. The retreat was appropriately planned which coincided with the visit of the Munsons, Aravind’s long-term guide, supporter and friend. Prof. Fred Munson, quoting examples by Peter F Drucker, facilitated the retreat pointing out the importance of having a goal. The necessity of mutual collaboration or dependence to reach the goal was reiterated by him in his address. Dr. R.D. Ravindran presented Aravind’s growth over the years and where it stands now. Dr. S. Aravind briefed on the challenges that await the organization and the opportunities lying ahead in its mission towards eliminating needless blindness.

Mr. R.D. Thulasiraj gave an overview of the whole retreat which was followed by meticulous brainstorming on improving the patient care services till 2020. Deliberations were also held separately for the different constituents of Aravind Eye Care System towards developing a roadmap for their growth over the next few years.

The S R Jindal Prize 2012 for Healthcare – including drugless healing and Nature cure was presented to Aravind Eye Care System at a glittering award ceremony held at New Delhi. The award is instituted to accolade exceptional service of current significance rendered by individuals or organisations for the welfare of Indian citizens in the country. Dr. R.D Ravindran, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System received the award.Sri Sri Ravishankar graced the occasion as chief guest.

Dr. P. Namperumalsamy received the Outstanding Humanitarian Service Award by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The award was presented at the annual congres of the Academy held at Chicago.

More than 150 delegates participated PHACOEXCEL organized by the in the meeting and attended lectures which were discussed by the Department of Cataract and IOL services, Aravind. Guest faculty included Dr.Alan Crandall, Dr. Geoff Tabin, Dr. George Beiko and Dr.Prema Padmanabhan and they contributed immensely to the scientific sessions. Live surgery telecast included an array of different phaco technologies and IOLs in the management of difficult cataracts. Around 30 delegates participated in wetlab phacoemulsification training on model eyes and EyeSi simulator.

Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore hosted Glaucons2012 - The 22nd Annual Conference of the Glaucoma Society of India (GSI at Le Meridien Hotel in Coimbatore. The conference as a whole was a grand success with 601 registered delegates and faculty, including eminent foreign faculty such as Drs. Alan Robin, Paul Lee, John Fingert, Aravind Neelakanthan and Ramesh Ayalla from the USA and Dr. Aung Tin from Singapore.

Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind Eye Hospital - Tirunelveli welcomed the delegates. The scientific session was inaugurated by Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman Emeritus, Aravind Eye Care System in the presence of Dr. Harsh Kumar, President of GSI, Dr. DevindraSood Secretary GSI and Dr. P. Sathyan organizing secretary Glaucons2012.

The three day programme included a first day of instruction courses and wetlab session on animal eyes for hands on glaucoma surgery for junior ophthalmologists, followed by two days of scientific deliberations. It was an excellent platform of interaction for ophthalmologist in practice and glaucoma specialists of national and international repute. An early morning session of breakfast with experts was organised and the delegates had a one to one interaction with the experts. Basics of glaucoma diagnosis and management was discussed at length so as to emphasise the importance of case detection by way of opportunistic screening of patients. Advanced glaucoma treatment options were elaborately debated upon and their suitability for the Indian scenario was argued.

There was a good representation from the pharmaceutical industry with as many as 29 stalls installed at the venue for display of relevant products and devises related to glaucoma care.

In every household there is one or two persons in need of eye care. And hence the need for creating awareness on how to take proper care for good eye health. It was with this end in mind that Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai organized a 3-day eye care awareness exhibition for the general public.

KANNAE NALAMAA- the grand exhibition was organized by in commemoration of World Sight Day 2012. The whole idea of conducting the exhibition sprang up just a week before the World Sight Day and it was executed with utmost perfection. With approval from the senior management team of Aravind, the organizing committee went ahead with the preparations taking into account even the minutest details. Marketing activities were carried out in full swing and the team covered as many as 25 schools and 5 colleges in and around Madurai. Simultaneously, another team at Aravind comprising staff from different departments was busy making posters, models and logos and designing stalls. A huge model of the retina that welcomed one at the very beginning of the exhibition was truly amazing and was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. An array of eye diseases along with preventive measures and treatment procedures was projected through the twenty stalls put up at the venue. The highlight of all these, was a model operation theatre along with video screening of cataract surgery. Though scary for a few, it was quite informative for most of them, who would otherwise have never thought of seeing an eye surgery which was as good as a live one. Audience also had a glimpse into the life of the blind when they were made to walk through the make-shift dark pathway and were asked to play simple games blindfolded.

The exhibition was officially inaugurated by District Collector, Shri. Anshul Mishra on Octber 9th 2012, in the presence of Aravind’s senior management team. The exhibition received wide response from the public and as many as 6500 people including students visited the exhibition.

“I thought eye care to be such a simple thing. Only after visiting this exhibition, I realized the real importance of taking proper care of the eyes”. - a feedback written by a person who visited the exhibition.

School students who were expected to only be interested in the interactive play areas came out with a sense of responsibility saying “I will spread the awareness about eye care and importance of eye donation. I will definitely donate my eyes after I die.”

The exhibition truly achieved its aim as is evident from the similar feedbacks from many more.

The third Dr. G. Venkataswamy Endowment Award was presented to Dr. Alan Lee Robin, Associate Professor Ophthalmology and International Health, Johns Hopkins University, US in appreciation and admiration of his outstanding and dedicated contribution to the cause of ophthalmology and prevention of blindness in the developing world in general and India in particular. Dr. R. Venkatesh, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind – Pondicherry welcomed the gathering and Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer briefed the association between Alan and Aravind over the years. Dr. P Sathyan, chief, Glaucoma services, Aravind –Coimbatore garlanded Dr. Alan and Dr. P. Namperumalsay, Chairman Emeritus, AECS presented the citation. Dr. S.R. Krishnadas, Director – HR, AECS read the citation and the trophy was presented to Dr. Alan by Mr. G. Srinivasan, President – Govel Trust. Dr. Alan‘s oration was on Combating Glaucoma in Resource Poor Settings: The Way Ahead.

Aravind Eye Hospital – Pondicherry won award for Best Patient Safety Initiatives at the II International Congress on Patient Safety held at Hyderabad International Convention Centre, Hyderabad.