Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System received the "Pride of South Tamil Nadu" Award for 2009 from Mr. M.M. Rajendran, former Governor of Orissa on 22nd November, 2009 on behalf of Aravind Eye Care System. The award which carries Rs.one lakh in cash and a citation was conferred by Velammal Education Trust in recognition of Aravind’s high quality eye care services and achievements.

Mr. N. Murali, Managing Director, T HE HINDU presided over the function. Mr. K. Srikanth, Indian Cricket team selection committee chairman participated as special guest. Mr.M.V. Muthuramalingam, Chairman, Velammal Education Trust welcomed the gathering. Dr. P. Namperumalsamy in his acceptance address said that it is the team work of all the staff of the Aravind Eye Care System which brought it to greater height. He said that Aravind’s founder Dr.V. took every obstacle as an opportunity and emphasised that if one thinks something is possible he should not heed to others who say it is impossible.

Aravind Eye Hospital has won the NASSCOM CNBC IT user Award for the year 2009. The Award Jury was tremendously impressed by the pro-active and holistic approach to IT adoption at Aravind Eye Hospital and the seamless alignment of IT with the business strategy. The Award ceremony is scheduled for December 2, 2009 at the Taj Landsend, Bandra, Mumbai.  Mr Sachin Pilot (Minister of State for IT) will be the Chief Guest.

Kinathukadavu Vision Centre, of Aravind Eye Hospital - Coimbatore celebrated its 2nd anniversary on October 31, 2009 at Govt. Higher Secondary School.  Exhibition on Eye Care awareness and Functions of  Vision Centre was organized. A Diabetic Retinopathy screening camp was held in the same premises sponsored by Lions Club of Pollachi, where the outpatient turnout was 133 with 31 known patients and 4 new diabetes patients. Nine persons with Diabetic retinopathy were identified out of which one was advised Laser. The highlight of the function was an "Eye care Awareness Rally" in the Kinathukadavu town.

Mr.Murugaraju, Camp Manager welcomed the gathering. Sr Shobana, Vision centre coordinator read the annual report. Mr.Senniappan- Maintenance Manager honoured the VIP's. Dr. Manoharbabu, Camp medical officer proposed a vote of thanks.

A seminar on "SightFirst" for the Lions Club of International District 324-B4 (Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi,  Kanniyakumari) was conducted at Aravind Eye Hospital, Tirunelveli under the  leadership of  Dr.R.Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer on November 1, 2009.

Ln. A. Udhayaraj, Eye Camp Chairman presided over the meeting. Ln. K. Rathinam, delivered the welcome address.  Lion P.O.P. Ramasamy Ist Vice District Governor delivered the inaugural address. Dr. R. Ramakrishnan gave the keynote address with brief presentations.  The camp manager presented the contributions of Lions so far and requested the Lions to widen their scope to achieve the targets in multivarious camps from childhood to elders through well publicity.

Dr. D. Lional Raj, Cornea Medical Officer spoke about corneal diseases and Eye Bank. Ln. A. Udhayaraj in his speech mentioned about vision screening for school children and distributed pamphlets prepared by him.  Mr. S. T. Jayabalan was the Master of ceremony.

Aravind-Tirunelveli has been provided with one more state-of-the-art technology in the form of "Zyoptix machine and ORB Scan" which was inaugurated by Chief Medical Officer Dr. R. Ramakrishnan on 2nd November, 2009.

Free hospital in Aravind Tirunelveli has recorded a highest number of patient visits in the outpatient department on Monday 26th October 2009. With the encouraging motivation from Senior Leader Team and the support from Chief Medical Officer Dr. R. Ramakrishnan the staffs were able to attend on all the patients to their best satisfaction.

The annual day celebration of Valliyoor Vision Centre was held on October 21. This was a great opportunity to conduct programmes to benefit the community. In connection with the Annual Day celebrations, an eye camp for School children was organised and 65 children were diagnosed to have refractive errors.  Thiru. Sukumaran, President of Valliyoor Merchants association and Dr. Namaludheen, Chief Medical officer and Mr.Narayan Kumar, Managing Director of Arul Mission Hospital, Valliyoor were the chief guest.

Dr. Chandrika, Camp Organiser, Mr.Balakrishnan, Free Hospital Co-ordinator, Sr.Chidambaram, Nursing Superintendent, Technicians and Co-ordinators from the Vision Centre facilitated this function. Mr. Balakrishnan welcomed the gathering, Sr. Selva Sundari, Vision Centre Co-ordinator presented the annaul report, Dr. Chandrika gave a talk on "Paediatric Eye Diseases" and Mr. Andrew Robin, Camp Organiser proposed a vote of thanks.

A special course in Instruments Maintenance exclusively for the instruments technicians of selected government hospitals in the States of Karnataka and Maharashtra was held in September-October 2009. The course was sponsored by SightSavers International Mumbai office. Eight technicians (5 from Karnataka and 3 from Maharashtra) participated. On October 28, 2009, the last day of the course, Dr. Sashikant Shetty, Professor, Paediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus Clinic gave away certificates and tools kit to the trainees. He emphasised the need for proper care and maintenance of ophthalmic instruments to deliver good eye care services for patients. Mr. K. Sekar was the Chief Instructor for the course.

The first community outreach camp for low vision and blind patients was conducted on November 1, 2009 at the Tirupuvanam vision centre. At the initial screening low vision and blind patients were identified and informed. 31 patients attended the camp. Dr.Ilango Medical Officer, Low Vision clinic examined the patients. Patients with incurable blindness were referred to the Sivagangai district rehabilitation centre for disability benefits. Magnifiers were provided to patients who had improvement for near vision. Patients who had residual vision with curable blindness were referred to the base hospital for further intervention. Jeyanthi, CBR coordinator, made the arrangements for the camp.

 

There has been a constant emphasis within our organisation to continually improve specific clinical skills along with soft skills in order to provide the best experience for the patients. CME programmes have proved to be a strong motivation as well as a training ground. It helps learn the best techniques and unlearn the bad techniques. With this objective Diwali CMEs for the MLOPs were conducted at Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and Pondicherry in the second week of October.

more

  Dr. V.Narendran, Chief Medical Officer and Dr. Rodney J Morris, Aravind-Coimbatore attended International AMD and Retina Congress meeting held at Athens on October 7th and 8th. They also went for an observership in the EYES I Vitrectomy Training facility at University Hospital at Frankfurt on October 10th to 12th.

Dr Krishnadas attended the conference on Global HealthCare Sustainability convened by the Center for Effective Organizations, University of California and the Center for Health Care Improvement of the Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden to discuss globally effective systems of health care delivery in Gothenburg, Sweden from October 12-14, 2009. Dr Krishnadas presented and discussed the Aravind model of effective, low cost, high quality delivery.

  Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS attended the meeting organised by Honeywell. He gave lecture on "Aravind Eye Care System".

  Dr. Bala Murugan, Medical Officer, Uvea clinic, Aravind-Madurai attended the Investigators' meeting held at Singapore.

 

Ms. Preethi Pradhan, Senior Faculty, LAICO attended the National Summit on Quality in Education held at Chennai Trade Centre on October 23-24, 09. She made a presentation on Aravind.

Mr. R D Thulasiraj, Executive Director, LAICO attended the Annual International Convention of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) at San Francisco, USA held in October 24-27, 2009. At this convention, he participated in several meetings.  He took part in Cataract Working Group and ICO's Refractive Task Force meetings to identify strategies to address the problem of refractive error in developing countries.  He also participated in two courses – as the Chief Instructor in the course "High-Volume, High-Quality, Cost-Effective Cataract Surgery to Tackle Cataract Backlog’ and as an instructor in the course "Workshop on Strengthening Eye Care Infrastructure in Developing Countries".

Dr. Nirmala Devy, Medical Officer, Neuro Clinic, Aravind Pondicherry attended the American Academy of Ophthalmology conference from October 24th - 27th at San Francisco.  She presented the topic "Instruction Course on SICS - Steps of Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery".

 

Mr. Thulasiraj from October 27 to 31, attended the Seva Sight Programme meeting at Berkeley, San Francisco.

From US, he visited Fundacion Vision, Asuncion to participate as a Faculty for a two weeks Management course held from Nov 1 to 4. He anchored sessions on management aspects of eye care delivery. Mr. Thulasiraj along with Dr. Rainald Duerksen, Executive Director, Fundacion Vision briefly met with Dr. Luis Federico Franco Gómez, Honourable Vice President, Paraguay and Dra. Esperanza Martinez, Minister of Health Services, Paraguay to discuss about role of government to enhance eye care services in the country.

  Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS was the chief guest at the inaugural function of Rajasthan Ophthalmic Society Annual Conference. He gave keynote address on "Diabetic Retinopathy: An emerging problem: Challenges and solution".

  Dr. C. Gowri Priya attended the symposium on GLP and Compliance in Biotechnology organized by IIT, Chennai and CSIR. She discussed the regulations and guidelines to be followed for getting GLP compliance from DST for the new stem cell culture laboratory at Dr. G. Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute.

Dr Kim and Mr Ganesh Babu attended 5th National Congress Telemedicine Society of India on November 6 - 8 2009.  Dr Kim chaired a session on Day-2 and presented a paper on Teleophthalmology - primary, secondary and tertiary eye care in India. Mr Ganesh Babu presented a paper on "Primary Eye Care services in rural areas using Wireless technology".

XIX Annual Meeting of the Glaucoma Society of India was held at Bangalore from November 6-8, 2009. Aravind doctors participated in the meeting.
Dr. Ramakrishnan gave the key note address and was one of the panel members for the discussion on "Medical Management, Surgical Management and Clinical Management of Glaucoma". He also spoke on "Relevance of different Glaucoma Surgical procedure in Indian scenario".
Dr. Krishnadas
- Management of over functioning BLEBS.
Dr. Sathyan
- Setting up of a Glaucoma practice.
- Trabeculectomy with Phaco emulsification in Glaucoma.
Dr. Venkatesh
- Non Penetrating Glaucoma Filtering Surgery.
Dr. Sharmila
- Family Screening for Open Angle Glaucoma (Best Paper Award)
Dr. Ganesh Raman
- Mobile Services to enhance patient compliance and Review.
Dr. Prashanth
- Correlation of DDLS and RNFL measurements.
Dr. George
- All that is cupped is Not Glaucoma.
Dr. G. Vijaya
- Small Pupil Phaco- Trabeculectomy
Dr.R. Venkatesh
- Viscocanalostomy
Dr. S. Kavitha, presented a poster
- History Taking a Never Dying Art
Dr. Parthasarathy & Dr. Avinash, Glaucoma fellow attended the conference.
Best Paper Award
Dr. Sharmila, Glaucoma Medical Officer, Aravind-Madurai was awarded the best paper award for her presentation on Family Screening for Primary Open Angle Glaucoma in the annual. Dr. Kundan Karan Kumar and Dr. Vijaya were runners- up in the finals of the Glaucoma Quiz Competition with the second place.
The Aravind family is proud of them and hopes they will continue to bring in more laurels to the institution.

  Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman, AECS was the guest speaker for the Erickson India inside Program at Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He gave a lecture on Aravind Model.

Dr. Muralidharan, Paediatric Ophthalmologist, Aravind-Madurai and Dr. R.D. Ravindran, Chief Medical Officer of the Aravind Eye Hospital, Puducherry, visited China from November 9 - 13, 2009.  This visit was to provide consultancy for quality assurance assessment of Dalian He Eye Hospital (HEH) supported by ORBIS International, China as part of their project, establishing a paediatric eye care centre in Dalian He Eye Hospital to serve Northeast China.  During their visit, they assessed the quality assurance process in the hospital after which, they conducted a three days workshop facilitate the institutionalization of a QA system in He Eye Care System (HECS).  This workshop was attended by the staff from all the four hospitals of HECS.

Mr. Thulasiraj attended the Annual Forum of Global Forum for Health Research at Havana, Cuba from 16th to 18th Nov 2009 to make a presentation on research at Aravind and participate in the discussions on what are the barriers to research, how to foster and improve health research.

Mr. R.D.Thulasiraj attended the Summit on redefining the Global Agenda at Dubai, 20-22 Nov 2009 convened by the World Economic Forum. He participated in discussions regarding the theme of social entrepreneurship and economic development.

 

Dr. Narendran, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Parag K Shah, Medical Officer, Aravind-Coimbatore attended the World ROP Congress conference at New Delhi on November 21-23. 
Dr. Narendran
- Screening Guidelines,
Dr. Parag K Shah
- Transpupilory Thermal Therapy (TTT) - A quicker and more efficient Laser for the treatment of ROP

 

VRSI annual Conference was held at Palampur, Himachal Pradesh on November 25-28. Aravind doctors presented various papers and Posters.
Dr. Narendran             
- Virtual reality in VR surgery training
Dr. V.R. Saravanan    
- Initial Experience with Intravitreal Macugen for Non-AMD Macular Diseases
Dr. Rodney J Morris  
- Indian experience of Anti VEGF in DME
Dr. Rajasekhar
- Anatomical and visual outcome of posterior segment intra ocular foreign body removal (POSTER)
Dr. Thomas K Chacko
- Anatomical & Visual Outcome following 23g Transconjunctival Sutureless Vitrectomy for Repair of  Primary Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment
Dr. Shashank Rai Gupta, Dr. Anand Rajendran, Dr. Kim Ramasamy, Dr. Naresh Babu, Dr. Praveen Muraly, Dr. Dhananjay Shukla, Dr. Anuradha Dhawan, Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, Dr. P. Raja Sekhar, Dr. M. Dheepha, Dr. Parag K. Shah, Dr. Rodney J Morris,Dr. V.R. Saravanan, Dr. V. Narendran, Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore presented the Posters. Dr. T.A. Aniruddha, Medical Officer, Retina Clinic, Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry attended the Conference.

Mr. R. D Thulasiraj Executive Director of LAICO made presentation about the Aravind model in November 27, 2009, at the prestigious TED conference, held for the first time in India, at Mysore. He explained how blindness can affect an individual – he not only loses eye sight but his independence, dignity as well as productivity. He explaind how the value system, efficiency and an atmosphere that fosters innovation have been the building blocks of Aravind.  He explained how the focus was to overcome the barriers for the patient in order for him to utilise Aravind’s services. He showed how Aravind leverages IT for improving efficiency. He elaborated on how this model could be used in other areas of healthcare and how even developed countries can learn from this model. This talk was well received by those present there.  Video

 

Karnataka State Ophthalmological Conference was held at Davanagare (Bangalore) on November 27 and 28, 2009. Dr. Usha, Chief Medical Officer, Orbit and Oculoplasty, Aravind-Madurai participated as a faculty in the conference and she presented papers on "Current concepts in the management of Ptosis" and "Lateral Orbitotomy made simple". She was also the Chair Person in Oculoplasty Symposium.

Ms.P.Murugeswari, Junior Research Fellow, Aravind Medical Research Foundation was awarded the UK Commonwealth Split-Site scholarship. She worked at the Centre for Vision and Vascular Sciences, Queen's University, Belfast from October 1, 2008 to September 2009. During this period she worked on the project "Pathogenic Mechanism of Diabetic Retinopathy" under the guidance of Dr. Alan Stitt (Director-Research) and she rejoined AMRF in October, 2009. This visit has been a benefit to our ongoing research activity and will also be helpful in establishing many of the methodologies in the AMRF work setting and in building other collaborative projects.

Orientation program for supervisors and tutors was held at Aravind – Coimbatore, Pondicherry and Tirunelveli for explaining their role in development of the department and also the Hospital.  The orientation was inaugurated with special address by Dr. Usha Kim through videoconference at Madurai followed by orientation at other centres.

We conducted exhibition to create awareness about cracker injury from October 12-18, 2009.  This exhibition was inaugurated by Dr. R. Venkatesh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer.  It is very informative and useful to all.

In India, to mark the birth anniversary of our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, November 14 is celebrated as Children's Day.  To celebrate the spirit of children and their talent and to promote kids' welfare, children’s day was celebrated in Aravind Eye Hospital, Tirunelveli in a grand manner. 
Competitions like singing and drawing were organized.  Ms. Savithri Pattabiraman, music teacher was invited as Chief Guest and judge for the competitions.  Children participated with great enthusiasm.  Prizes were distributed to the winners and to encourage participation, a small gift was given for all the participants.

Paediatric Clinic, AEH, Pondicherry celebrated Children's Day,  Paediatric exhibition was arranged by the MLOP's at first floor and was well attended by the patients.  Essay competition and painting competition was conducted for children's less than 15 years and prizes were distributed by Dr. R. Venkatesh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Tiruvenkadakrishnan, Cornea Consultant and Mr. Kanagaraj, General Manager.

Aravind Eye Hospital and Dr. Gopinath Diabetes Centre jointly conducted a special Diabetes camp for the benefit of Madurai Municipal Corporation employees on the World Diabetes Day at the corporation premises on November 14, 2009. Mr. A.S. Sebastian, Corporation Commissioner, inaugurated the camp in the presence of Mayor Mrs. Thenmozhi Gopinathan.
300 employees were screened by Dr. Gopinath team for diabetes by blood test and the team of Dr. Kim, Chief, Retina clinic, Aravind Eye Hospital screened for diabetic retinopathy by fundus examination. Mr. Devadoss, Corporation Deputy Commissioner, PRO Mr. Bhaskaran, Mr. S.G. Ramanathan, PRO, Aravind Eye Hospital and Mr. Murugesan had made arrangements for the camp.

World Diabetes Day was observed on November 14 at Aravind Eye Hospital in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin. This year the theme was "Diabetes Education and Prevention". Various Programs like Human Chain, Walk, Seminar, Exhibition, Health Awareness program and Diabetic Screening Camp were organised in connection with the day at Tirunelveli. Doctors and MLOPs formed a Human Chain in front of the Hospital holding slogans about Diabetes.  Pamphlets were also distributed to the public to create awareness about Diabetes and its prevention. An exhibition about Diabetes was also arranged. Dr.R.Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer inaugurated the exhibition. In the Evening Patient Interaction Meeting was conducted at the auditorium.
A patient awareness seminar was organized from 6.30pm onwards.  Dr.R.Ramakrishnan, and Dr.Manakavala Perumal spoke about Diabetes and precautionary steps to be taken to prevent diabetes. 
At Aravind-Tuticorin a diabetic camp was organised in association with SRRA Hospital, Tuticorin.  Dr.Selvaraj, MD inaugurated the camp.  145 persons were screened at the camp, 115 were diagnosed with diabetes and 26 with diabetic retinopathy.
A Diabetic Seminar was organized in which Mrs. Geetha Jeevan, Minister was the Chief Guest. Dr.R.Ramakrishnan, Dr.Selvaraj, Diabetologist, Dr.Nellaiappa Ganesan, Cardiologist and Dr.Pitchumani, IMA Trustee spoke. 
A diabetic walk was flagged off by the Head Master Rev. Fr. Innasi at 3.30pm from St.Francis Xavier Higher Secondary School to Tharuvai Sports Ground. Dr.R.Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer, Dr.Selvaraj, Mr.Selvan Silva, NCC Officer, Mr.Gilbert, Navy Officer and Mr.Yogan, Physical Director accompanied the 200 School students of St.Francis Xavier Higher Secondary School.

Aravind Eye Hospitals at Theni, in collaboration with DINAMALAR and Lions Club of Cumbum observed World Diabetes Day on 14 and 15 November 2009. On 14 November Diabetic Retinopathy awareness Rally was started from Thambees Theatre Cumbum and reached the Vasavi Mahal via Gandhi Statue. Dr. P. Namperumalsamy,  Chairman, Aravind Eye Care System, Dr. C. P. Rajkumar, Managing Director , Nalam Hospital Theni, Mr. Boominathan, Secretary Lions Club of Cumbum, Dr. Datta, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind Eye Hospital, Theni and other dignitaries were present. 152 people from various sections of public attended the rally.
At the end of the Rally, the Diabetic Retinopathy awareness programme was held in the Vasavi Mahal under the presidentship of Mr. N. Ramakrishnan, M.L.A, Cumbum. Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, welcomed the gathering and spoke on Diabetes and Diabetic Retinopathy awareness creation and treatment. Dr. C. P. Rajkumar, Diabetologist and Managing Director, Nalam Hospital, Theni, and others also spoke Dr. Jeyanthan, Medical Officer, Aravind Eye Hospital, Theni proposed a vote of thanks.
On November 15, a Diabetic Retinopathy Screening camp was held at Vasavi Mahal, Cumbum. Dr. C.P. Rajkumar and a team of Dibetologists from Nalam Hospital, Theni, Dr. Syeed Sultan Ibrahim and Dr. Mohana Sundaram (Physicians) extended help in conducting the screening camp.
Out of the 859 persons attended the camp, 606 diabetes and 113 Diabetic Retinopathy cases were identified. 6 advised for lasers, 15 patients were post laser, 7 cases advised for FFA. 24 Glaucoma suspects were identified and 11 cases advised for YAG PI and finally 36 cases advised for IOL Surgery.

On the occasion of World Diabetes Day, Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry conducted an Exhibition from November 11-14 at the base hospital.  The Exhibition was inaugurated by Dr.Venkatesh, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry. All the staff members of Retina and Vitreous Clinic enthusiastically took part in the Exhibition and created awareness among public regarding diabetes mellitus and diabetic retinopathy.  Charts, posters, and models were displayed in the exhibition. An awareness video was also shown to the diabetic patients regarding diabetic retinopathy which attracted the patients.  A total of more than 900 patients and staff members visited the exhibition.
Live programmes were conducted on All India Radio, Rainbow FM and also Sky Sat TV channel regarding diabetic retinopathy awarness, prevention and management by Dr. R. Jayagayathri. An awareness programme for the general public and diabetic patients was conducted. Dr.R. Venkatesh, Dr. Arul, Diabetologist, General Hospital, Pondicherry and Dr. Dhivya spoke about diabetes and its related eye problems. A total of 90 patients participated the programme.
A Press Meet with Cuddalore Reporters, Diabetic Retinopathy camp at Nellikuppam Vision Centre service area and screening of diabetic patients at General Hospital, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Neyveli were also conducted.

Dr.V Mediclaim Group Insurance ID card distribution function was held in AEH-Madurai on 13 November 2009. Mr.Ramanathan (PRO) welcomed the gathering. Mr. Sadheesh from Global Health Plan Limited gave a brief introduction about the mediclaim policy and its benefits to the insured. The insured got clarified their doubts about the mediclaim policy.
Our HR Director Dr.Natchiar madam gave a special address to the employees about the benefits of the mediclaim facility. Dr.V Mediclaim Group Insurance ID Cards were distributed to the employees by our SLT members. On behalf of the employees Sr. Renuka thanked the management for this wonderful facility.

Health Insurance Identity cards were distributed to the employees on November 13, 2009 by Chief Medical Officer Dr.R.Ramakrishnan. At a meeting organized for this purpose a brief introduction about this Health Insurance scheme was given by Mrs. Lakshmi, HRD.

First Academic Council meeting of the DOTT.NET (Diploma in Ophthalmic Techniques Training Network) initiative was organised in LAICO between 28th and 29th November 2009. The main focus of the first Academic Council meeting was to accelerate the plans for implementing the DOTT.NET initiative by finalizing the guidelines for DOTT.NET initiative and reviewing the proposal. Delegates from 11 Eye Care Institutions, 6 INGOs and Dr. A S Rathore from ADG (NPCB), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India participated in the workshop.

 

Dr. Nirmala Devy, Medical Officer, Neuro Clinic, Aravind Pondicherry attended observership under the guidance of Dr. Edward Margolin from 30th October to 21st November at Mount Sinail Hospital - Toronto, Canada for Neuro Ophthalmology, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Canada for Neuro Ophthalmology and Low Visual Aids and Rehabilitation, Candian National Institute of Blindness, Toronto, for Low Visual Aids & Rehabilitation under the guidance of Dr. Samuel marcowitz.

To refresh and for relaxing from the busy schedule a picnic was arranged during diwali holidays for the staff of Sudarshan Netralaya, Amreli to Dhwaraka, where Sri Krishna ruled. The team started from Amreli on October 17, 2009. After visiting Dhwaraka, the team travelled by boat to the remnant of old Dhwaraka which was submerged in the sea long, long ago. The 6km journey was really a thrill. Team also visited Hanuman temple and some other famous temples which came on the way.

Medical Retina Department has been started in Sudarshan Netralaya, Amreli. Dr. V. Narendran, inaugurated the clinic on 28th October 2009. DBCS President and Civil Surgeon of Amreli Dr.Shobana was the chief guest along with other DBCS representatives and optometrists of Amerli. On the inaugural day, the clinic had 84 new and 89 review patients totalling 173. FFA was done for two patients and it was advised for 14. Laser was done on one patient.
On the same day evening graduation day was held for the third batch of sisters who have completed 2 years of training.

Graduation day for the third batch of MLOPs was conducted in Sudarshan Netralaya on October 28, 2009. Dr. Pandurang welcomed the gathering followed by inaugural address by the Chief Guest of Dr. V. Narendran, Chief Medical Officer Aravind-Coimbatore in which he highlighted the importance and role of MLOPs. 3rd batch consisted of 7 staff who belong to MRD, Opticals, counselling, refraction, housekeeping and stores. Prizes were given to those secured highest marks. Mr. Keerthibhai proposed vote of thanks. Programme was colorful with dance and drama.

 

Course title	Training Centre	Total number trained as on September 2009	Enrollments for October 2009
Long Term Fellowship Courses-For Ophthalmologists
Fellowship in Orbit & Oculoplasty	Madurai	20	1
	Tirunelveli	0	0
	Coimbatore	0	0
	Pondicherry	0	0
Short Term Courses - For Ophthalmologists
Diagnosis and Management of Glaucoma	Madurai	101	2
	Tirunelveli	89	1
	Coimbatore	70	2
IOL Micro surgery	Madurai	691	2
	Tirunelveli	264	0
	Coimbatore	198	0
	Pondicherry	8	0
Phacoemulsification	Madurai	104	1
	Tirunelveli	52	0
	Coimbatore	67	0
	Pondicherry	14	0
Small Incision Cataract Surgery	Madurai	131	0
	Tirunelveli	91	2
	Coimbatore	105	2
	Pondicherry	13	0
Lasers in Diabetic Retinopathy	Madurai	223	0
	Coimbatore	204	3
Paramedical Course
Short term training in OT Techniques	Madurai	8	8

 

 

1.   Ajay Yeliathaya Harish; Sandra, C Ganesh and Kalpana, Narendran
"Traumatic Superior Oblique Tendon Rupture"
J AAPOS  VOL: 13 (5)  2009  OCT.   p.485-487
http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/ympa/article/PIIS1091853109002547/abstract

2.   Anand, Rajendran    Gupta, S R; Brahadeesh, S; Kim, R
"Intravitreal Bevacizumab for Choroidal Neovascularization Associated with a
Retinochoroidal Coloboma"
EYE E- Pub AUG.   p.1-2
www.nature.com/eye/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/eye2009221a.html
                                     
3.   Thiruvengada Krishnan    Ravindran, R D; Murthy, G V S; Vashist, P; Fitzpatrick, K E; Thulasiraj, R D; John, N; Maraini, G; Camparini, M; Chakravarthy, U; Fletcher, A E
"Prevalence of Early and Late Age-Related Macular Degeneration in India: the INDEYE study"
INVEST. OPHTHALMOL. VIS. SCI. E -Pub AUG.
http://www.iovs.org/cgi/rapidpdf/iovs.09-4114v1

4.   Parag K. Shah, Narendran, V ; Kalpana, N;  Clare Gilber
Severe retinopathy of prematurity in big babies in India: history repeating itself?
Indian J Pediatr. 2009 Aug;76(8):801-4. Epub 2009 Sep 4
http://www.springerlink.com/content/xkg7378863wg7044/

Aurolab organized Continuous Technical Education (CTE) for production staff on 10th & 11th October 2009.This two days employees were educated about new product introduction by each division, R&D and Marketing dept function, Sterilization, Waste elimination, and Cleaning. Two sessions were focused on benefiting production staff’s personal life i.e. How to save money and Importance of work for women. Many of our employees were highly benefited by this two day Training program.

Dr. P. Balakrishnan, Managing Director of Aurolab participated and gave presentation on Innovations in Eye Care at the Conference on Engineering Innovation in Manufacturing. The conference was organized by the CII Southern Region and it was held at Hotel Taj Coromandel, Chennai on 19th & 20th November, 2009. He presented Aurolab’s significant contribution in the battle to eliminate needles blindness by manufacturing high quality ophthalmic products affordable and accessible to the vision impaired worldwide.

  The FDA inspection was held from 19th October to 22nd October 2009 by USFDA investigator.  The audit was completed successfully and they recommended some enhancements in our process and in our documentations.

  A number of annual conferences were held in the month of October 2009 at Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarkhand, Maharashtra, Bihar and Rajasthan. Product Managers, Area Development Managers and dealers from Aurolab attended the conferences. They actively promoted the Aurolab’s products to the delegates at the stalls. The products focused during the conference were "Auroflex - EV" - Negative Aspheric IOL, Absorbable sutures & Needles, Ocublue Plus - A new dye for ILM peeling, Aurosil Plus – Silicone Oil 5000 mm2/s (cSt), and Aurolase 532 - Green Laser Photocoagulator. Besides they supported the existing products of Aurolab to the ophthalmic society.

The Annual Academy of Ophthalmology was held from October 24th-27th in San Francisco. This year's attendance exceeded last year by around 17-18%. Aurolab launched its new products Auroflex EV – Aspheric IOL, Ocublue Plus – Brilliant Blue Plus, Absorbable sutures, and Aurosling. It had an experience to meet some of its existing customers and to attract and create some awareness with some new customers. This meeting also served as an avenue to meet members of the SEVA Board and to meet long time supporters of  Aravind and Aurolab. The meeting was represented by Dr. P. Balakrishnan, Mr. S. Sivanand & Mr. Vishnu Prasad of Aurolab. Aurolab also plans to attend the ASCRS (American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery effective immediately).

 

October - 2009
Hospitals	Madurai	Theni	Tirunelveli	Coimbatore	Pondicherry		Total
HOSPITAL OUT-PATIENT VISITS
Paying (New & Review)	36,265	6,227	18,903	25,997	17,040	18,984	123,416
Free (Direct walk-in)	11,401	1,642	5,904	8,940	5,444	936	34,267
OUTREACH OUT PATIENTS
Regular Eye Camps	7,245	3,061	3,712	8,391	3,379	4,606	30,394
Diabetic Retinopathy camps	-	154	163	1,620	531	-	2,468
Refraction Camps	2,633	-	906	592	340	610	5,081
School Screening	18,962	177	1,105	8,124	1,486	840	30,694
Paediatric Camps	221	-	-	-	-	-	221
Awareness Camp	-	-	-	-	-	180	180
Vision Centres	3,788	3,613	2,986	1,651	1,736	-	13,774
Community Eye Clinics	3,289	1,386	2,313	2,476	-	-	9,464
Lifeline Camps	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total OP Examinations	83,804	16,260	35,992	57,791	29,956	26,156	249,959
SURGERIES
Paying	4,466	419	945	4,940	701	1,066	12,537
Free (including the subsidized camp surgeries)	2,408	223	646	2,628	1,329	-	7,234
Lifeline Camps	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Camp	1,686	326	857	2,026	867	2,119	7,881
Total Surgeries	8,560	968	2,448	9,594	2,897	3,185	27,652

Mr. Strocka, head of procurement at CBM International, Germany visited Aurolab on October 9. He was on a visit to meet and understand their suppliers better. Aurolab has been one of the long time suppliers for CBM. In Aurolab, he saw the manufacturing units through that he came to know about the Aurolab’s product quality and process quality. Finally he had a commercial meeting with senior Aurolab team. He is also keen to know about the Aravind eye care system as a whole.

 

Dr. Pradeep Ramulu from USA visited Aravind hospital from 9th -10th November. He discussed on interesting cases with postgraduates and gave a lecture on "Secondary Glaucoma".

Parents with children afflicted with serious eye problems are always afraid of the disease and its effects when they come to the hospital for getting treatment. They will be always worrying about the consequences of the possible treatment. At such times the patience and reassuring counselling of the Medical officer help to alleviate their apprehensions.

A Christian parents from Dindigul brought their one year old child David (Real name shielded) to Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai. The child born 10 years after the marriage of the couple, was having a tumour in his right eye. Hence the patient was referred to the Orbit Clinic. Dr. Usha Madam who examined the child diagonsed the tumour as Retinoblastoma. Having known that the word cancer will shock the parents, the doctor took pains to explain the problem to Davids father and mother without creating alarm.

Initially the nature of tumour and the possibility of its spreading to other parts of the body were explained. But the parents who were tensed with apprehension did not understand what the doctor said. Then arrangments were made for conducting the preliminary test with anaesthesia. At that time the child developed diarrhoea and it was not possible to proceed with the test.

Immediately the child was referred to the paediatrician in the hospital, but the parents preferred to take the child to their family doctor at Dindigul. Dr. Usha madam permitted to take the child to their native place. After 3 days, the child was brought again to Aravind, accompained by not only the parents but also 4 other family members. All the six put a lot of questions to Dr. Usha madam who explained the nature of the eye problem and the imperative of removing the right eye ball. Then the family members requested the doctor to talk to their family doctor over phone and explain the problem to him. In the telephonic conversation, the Dindigul doctor asked a number of questions which were again answered by the madam patiently.
After all these explanations the family was convinced and consented to perform the operation which was performed successfully and the parents left the hospital with their child. Later the father of David sent Diwali greetings to Dr. Usha madam.

In the meanwhile David’s grandmother was advised cataract surgery by the madam, and the operation was done in Aravind hospital. After a few months a prosthetic eye was implanted on David’s RE, which looked as natural as the LE. Fully satisfied with the present facial appearance of David the parents often visit Aravind like family members.

A compassionate and friendly approach blended with patience helps a lot in making the patients and parents get relieved from their apprehension and tension. The story of David stands as an example.

Source : Ms. Regitha, Aravind - Madurai
Script : K.V.S. Lakshmanan