About The Aravind Eye Care System

Aravind started out in 1976 as an 11 bed eye clinic in Madurai, South India. Today with over 3,500 beds, it has evolved into a comprehensive eye care facility that delivers a wide array of eye care services through a network of five hospitals with facilities for teaching, training, research, policy advocacy, capacity building, and the production of affordable ophthalmic supplies. Today the Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) is the largest and most productive eye care facility in the world. Each year it sees over 1.4 million patients and performs more than 200,000 sight-restoring surgeries. Two-thirds of its services are free.