LAUNCH OF MLOPS TRAINING MANUALS
LAICO, October 1, 2007
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.

LAUNCH OF NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY TEXT BOOK
Aravind-Madurai, October 4, 2007
Aravind Eye Care System launched the 4th edition of Neuro-ophthalmology text book on October 4, 2007. The launch function was held at Aravind-Madurai 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 3 editions with the 1st edition appearing in 1982 and which was popular among all the ophthalmology postgraduate students in the country for the past 25 years.

INAUGURATION OF KINATHUKADAVU VISION CENTRE
Aravind-Coimbatore, October 10, 2007
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.

TRIP TO COURTALLAM
Aravind-Tirunelveli, October 10, 2007
MLOPs and Administrative (Ladies) staff members completed one and two years of service at Aravind-Tirunelveli were taken on a half a day tour to Courtallam on October 10, 2007. A total of 150 members in two batches went to Courtallam. This tour definitely helped them to beat the scorching heat of the summer. All the staff members had a wonderful splash and a great time and enjoyed their tour.
They had a pleasant bath at Main falls and Five falls. All the staff members had a wonderful time and enjoyed their tour.




PRESS RELEASE

World Sight Day
October 11, 2007
“Close your eyes for a minute and imagine that you cannot see anything at all forever. I felt terrible and decided to help visually-impaired people by donating a percentage of my company’s profits for the cause.”
      This observation of a city-based industrialist brings to the fore the essence of World Sight Day (October 11) which goes with the theme: ‘Vision for Children.’
      Presumptions that cataract and poor vision are old age problems do not hold much ground anymore. Childhood cataract is becoming common, if statistics are anything to go by.
      For instance, nearly 1,000 children up to 12 years of age undergo surgery for cataract every year at the Aravind Eye Hospitals here. The Department of Ophthalmology at Government Rajaji Hospital performs 5 to 10 cataract/squint surgeries per month for children up to 12 years.
      “Giving children vitamin A supplements and fruit juices alone will not suffice. Defects in vision could be due to several factors and eye injuries too require attention,” cautions P. Vijayalakshmi, Chief of Paediatric Ophthalmology, Aravind Eye Hospitals.
      Parents and teachers should think beyond a child’s nutrition and diet. They should be able to recognise the changes in children’s eyes. Timely treatment of refractive errors could prevent permanent blindness, she says.
      Dr. Vijayalakshmi wants the parents to have a keen eye on children’s eyes. “They may get injured while playing or by sharp objects. Sometimes, the vision layers can get damaged,” she says. A similar view comes from G.S. Srinivasan, Head (in-charge) of Ophthalmology Department at GRH, who also says that road accident cases, assaults and industrial accidents affect eyesight.
      “If cataract and glaucoma are among old people, congenital cataracts are also happening because of marriages among relatives,” Dr. Srinivasan pointed out.

Pre-term babies
A word of caution comes from ophthalmologists with regard to pre-term babies. They point out that these children are prone to develop complication in eyes which may even result in blindness. “We recommend a routine screening of all premature babies in a month after their birth. However, it is not practised widely in India,” Dr. Vijayalakshmi says.
      The GRH Dean, V. Raji, says that watching television from close range and working on computers for long without a blink adds to eye problems among youngsters.
      If youngsters are the latest entrants to the cataract list, people like 55-year old Pandi from Sundararajanpatti, a daily wage earner, still wait at the GRH corridors after being detected with eye problems by District Blindness Control Society.
      “For the last two years, I am unable to see properly. Eye camps are helpful for people like us,” he says as he prepares for cataract surgery this week.

TRIP TO MANJOLAI ESTATE
Aravind-Tirunelveli, October 16, 2007
Male administrative staff members of Aravind-Tirunelveli were taken on a one day tour to Manjolai Estate on October 16, 2007. Manjolai is 57 km away from Tirunelveli, There are tea plantations in and around this place. It is located on the Southern most tip of the Western Ghats bordering Kerala. A mini Golf Course is also available here. During this trip they visited places like Kodaiyaru, Manimutharu and Kuthiraivetti.





FOUNDER’S DAY COMPETITIONS
Aravind-Tirunelveli, October 17, 2007
In connection with the 89th birth anniversary of our Founder Chairman Dr.V, various competitions were organized at Aravind-Tirunelveli. Competitions like Poetry writing, Poster making, Elocution, Rangoli, Quiz and Anthakshari were conducted.
      Mission day was also celebrated in a grand manner on 1st Oct 2007. Lakshmi, Manager - HRD welcomed the gathering, Mr.Jayabalan, Manager - Administration gave a speech about Dr.V and also remembered his close association with our founder Chairman. This was followed by Bhajan in Tamil and Hindi. On October 17, 2007 prize distribution function was held and Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, CMO presented the prizes to all the winners.

POOJA CELEBRATIONS
Aravind-Coimbatore, October 20, 2007
Saraswathi Pooja and Navarathiri Festival were celebrated at Aravind-Coimbatore on October 20, 2007. A cultural programme by paramedical staff was held.









TRIP TO KANYAKUMARI
Aravind-Tirunelveli, October 21, 2007
MLOPs with 3-5yrs experience were taken on a one day tour to Kanyakumari on October 21, 2007. They visited Vivekananda rock, Vattakottai, Thiruvalluvar Statue, Kanyakumari Amman temple and Thirupparapu falls.
All of them had a wonderful time and this tour was a great and entertaining change from their usual routine.







OUT-BOUND EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR ARAVIND COMMUNICATION TEAM
Aravind-Puducherry, October 31-November 2, 2007
It was like nascent birds coming out of their nest with the mother-bird for the first time to fly in the sky. Almost all the staff of Aravind Communications numbering 21 were taken on a 5 day trip to Puducherry state for an outbound education programme and strategy planning workshop held at Marakkanam and Aravind Eye Hospital, Puducherry respectively.
      The programme helped the staff to learn unknown things for doing the known things in a better way. The out-bound education programme conducted from October 31-November 2 at the Pegasus Institute’s camp site on the sea shore educated the staff members on all the aspects of performing their jobs efficiently and effectively. The camp activities in which the employees participated with a fixed time frame tested their physical as well as mental capabilities. The Pegasus faculty members who conducted the camp beautifully correlated the playful activities to the day-to-day work of the staff in their department.
      The Programme drove home the importance of leadership, planning, co-operation, co-ordination and completing a particular task perfectly and with in a specified time. All these should be carried out by the staff, having the big picture of the institute in mind. It was really a wonderful and rewarding experience to the Aravind Communications staff.
      On 3rd November, a Strategy Planning Workshop was held in Aravind-Puducherry to discuss and analyze the outcome of the out-bound education programme and chart out various ways for implementing in their workplace what they have learnt at the camp. Ms. Preeti Pradhan and Ms. Deepa Krishnan conducted the workshop.

- Dr. Mohammed Baber Qureshi, CEO, and Mr. Arsalan Masood, project officer, from Comprehensive health and education forum, Pakistan were at Aravind-Madurai from October 1-14, to visit Aravind Vision Centre and replicate in Pakistan and to attend Bench Marking, Reaching out 360, Training of Trainers for Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology workshops at LAICO.
- Mr. Glenn Sussman and Mr. Gary Sorenson from Alcon, R & D Irvine, USA were at Aravind-Madurai from October 15-17, 2007. The purpose of their visit was to evaluate new equipment.

ARAVIND'S EYE CAMP LIGHTS THE FUTURE OF A YOUNG BOY
Schoolchildren across the Indian subcontinent are visually impaired by refractive errors, but often these cases go unreported and untreated. In many cases, the child will not tell their parents that they cannot see correctly, or the parents fail to take the problem seriously. Many parents are ignorant of the scope of their child's visual problems, and neglect to bring the child to an eye hospital.
      Raja, a student in Tuticorin was one such child. His vision was severely impaired, and he would have faced a difficult future if not for the Aravind Eye Care System.
      Born to parents who had consanguineous marriage, Raja developed vision problems while studying in 4th standard. He had to keep the books very near to his eyes for reading, and as a result he could not devote enough attention to his studies. Even while playing sports and performing other activities, he was affected by his disability, and his classmates began to ridicule him.
      The teasing became so severe that Raja informed his mother about his visual problems. As her daughter’s vision was already defective, she thought Raja too had similar problems that could not be addressed with medicine, and she didn't take him to an ophthalmologist. As a result, Raja continued to struggle with reading, and he failed in the school examination.
      But Raja was in luck; soon after his failure, Aravind Eye Hospital conducted an eye screening camp in his town, and he was able to finally get examined. The doctors found his visual acuity to be very poor. He could see only four feet in front of him, and his lens power was -7.
      The doctor at the camp asked Raja to bring his mother, so that the camp counselor could explain to her about the condition of Raja’s vision problem. She was advised to bring him to Aravind's hospital in Tirunelveli for a more detailed examination.
      The next day, Raja and his mother came to Aravind where his eyes were thoroughly tested and prescription was given for glasses.
      After wearing the glasses Raja could see even distant objects clearly and he was very happy. His mother, who too felt very glad, expressed her regret for her ignorance and indifferent attitude which had kept her son visually impaired for so long and caused him to fail his examination.
      “If he had not participated in your eye camp, his future would have become dark” she said. Thanking the doctors and Aravind, they then returned to their village.

Source: Bhuvaneswari, Aravind-Tirunelveli
Script: K.V.S. Lakshmanan

OCTOBER 2007
Hospitals	Madurai	Theni	Tirunelveli	Coimbatore	Puducherry		Total
HOSPITAL OUT-PATIENT VISITS
Paying (New-Review)	31,141	5,344	15,274	21,513	13,907	12,049	99,228
Free (Direct walk-in)	19,560	3,453	8,667	18,386	10,197	-	60,263
OUTREACH OUT PATIENTS
Regular Eye Camps	8,747	1,673	3,303	9,815	5,744	3,954	33,236
Diabetic Retinopathy Camps	-	-	966	20,011	216	-	21,193
Refractive Camps	888	227	308	87	350	708	2,568
School Eye Screening	1,200	-	473	13,045	1,332	1,424	17,474
Vision Centres	-	1,997	900	530	507	-	3,934
Community Eye Clinics	2,746	-	1,825	1,992	-	-	6,563
Total OP Examinations	64,282	12,694	31,716	85,379	32,253	18,135	244,307
SURGERIES
Paying	4,019	324	1,522	2,201	1,079	569	9,714
Free (including the subsidized camp surgeries)	1,575	184	719	1,281	583	-	4,342
Through Outreach	2,499	296	799	2,314	1,268	1,192	8,368
Total Surgeries	8,093	804	3,040	5,796	2,930	1,761	22,424