The prestigious EMPI-Indian Express Indian Innovation Award was presented to Aravind Eye Care System on July 13 in a ceremony held at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Dr. R. Kim received award from Nandan Nilekani, Chairperson, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). The award was given in recognition of Aravind's remote-diagnosis system structured to provide timely and afforadable specialised eye screening for prevention of diabetes triggered vision loss thereby bridging the hitherto insurmountable, accessibility and economic gap between specialists and patients.
Indian Express Indian Innovation Awards, in the words of EMPI's vice president for Strategic Initiatives Pankaj Saran, go beyond the "technical innovation by individuals" and recognise "social, institutional and organisational innovations". This time the awards went to 11 organisations, with eight of them receiving the gold trophies. The winners were a mix of government, non-government and private initiatives, all of which had succeeded in taking an established idea and slightly changing it it to achieve astounding results.

Dr. G. Natchiar, Director, Human Resource Department was conferred the D.Sc (Doctor of Science, Hon. Causa) by the Dr. M.G.R Medical University at the 20th convocation ceremony held at Madras University Centenary Auditorium.

On the occasion of the completion of its 102 years of glorious service, Bank of Baroda has conferred "Baroda Sun Lifetime Achievement Award" on Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, President, Aravind Medical Research Foundation for his extraordinary contributions to the field of medicine. This is an annual award conferred on eminent personalities in varied disciplines such as Science, Medicine, Sports, Corporate leadership etc in appreciation of their outstanding service to their respective sphere. The awardees in the past include luminaries like Dr. E. Sreedharan, Dr. Kiran Bedi, Ms. Sudha Murthy, Shri. Yash Chopra, Pandit Jasraj, Dr. Suresh Advani, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan etc.
Dr. P.N. received the award at the ceremony held on Bank’s Foundation Day on July 20 at NCPA Auditorium, Mumbai.

Lifetime achievement award was presented to Dr.P.Namperumalsamy, President, Aravind Medical Research Foundation at the annual TNOA conference held at Salem. The award was given in recognition of his contribution to the science of ophthalmology and the functioning of TNOA.

Best Video Award for Dr. N. Venkatesh Prajna and team
Dr. Venkatesh Prajna, Dr. Hanu Padmaja, Dr. Subhasis Mukherjee, Mr. Muneeswaran and Mr. Kumar produced the video The Capture of the Intraocular Disco Dancer which won the Best Video Award at the TNOA conference

The Indian Eye Research Group honoured Dr. P. Namperumalsamy by presenting an award in recognition of his seminal role in energizing and catalyzing vision research in India and for creating a global platform for the creative exchange of idea in the field.

Dr. R.D. Ravindran took over charge as the new chairman of Aravind Eye Care System from Dr. P. Namperumalsamy on 12th July 2010.

Dr. R.D. Ravindran, till now the chief medical officer of Aravind – Pondicherry has been with AECS for almost 3 decades, starting from Madurai. The 52 year old, soft – spoken, smiling and amiable ophthalmologist has the rich experience of establishing and developing each of Aravind Eye Hospital at Theni, Tirunelveli, Coimbatore and most recently Pondicherry.

At the induction ceremony held at Aravind Eye Hospital Auditorium, Madurai, the historic event of the transfer of mantle took place in the presence of senior Aravind leaders, medical officers, MLOPs, members of faculty and administrative staff. Dr. S. R. Krishnadas, CMO, Aravind Eye Hospital conducted the proceedings. The outgoing Chairman, Dr. P.N., Vice Chairman, Dr. G. Natchiar and director Dr. M. Srinivasan blessed the new chairman and his team, assuring full support in all their efforts toward achieving the mission of eliminating needless blindness. The senior leaders felicitated Dr. Ravindran at the function. The new chairman assured that the new team will follow the tradition and culture set out by Dr.V. and other senior leaders. He outlined the developmental plans he has in mind for the further development and growth of the organisation.

A joint clean up initiative was organised at Melamadai and Gomathipuram by EXNORA in cooperation with Aravind Eye Hospital, Soroptimist International and Indian Red Cross Society. The programme was inaugurated by District Collector, C. Kamaraj. The clean up programme included clearing garbage, putting up boards to create awareness among general public to maintain hygiene. Volunteers from Aravind Eye Hospital, TVS Community College and Thiagarajar College visited each house and distributed gunny bags for collecting plastic waste materials which will be lifted on a monthly basis.

ASEF University aims at promoting inter-cultural exchanges among university students from Asia and Europe. The Foundation consists of members from 16 East Asian countries and 27 countries of the European Union.
Mr. R. Meenakshi Sundaram, Senior Manager – Community Outreach participated in the conference and presented the paper.
- Non Governmental Initiatives towards Public Health

  Dr. Haripriya Aravind
- Iris Fixation of Rigid IOLs
- Travails of a Surgeon- Cionni ring in Spherophakia
Dr. R. Venkatesh
- Laser Assisted Deep Sclerectomy

Dr. P. Vijayalakshmi
- Dissociated vertical deviation
- Basics of strabismus surgery
- Optimising visual outcome in childhood cataract
- Visual acuity assessment in children
Dr. M. Srinivasan
- Infective keratitis
- Paediatric ophthalmology
- Secondary bacterial keratitis

  Mr. R.D. Thulasiraj, Executive Director – LAICO was invited as guest speaker during LEAN week in Global Supply Chain – Asia organized by Wipro GE Healthcare. Mr. R.D. Thulasiraj spoke on the genesis of AECS and its unique service model.

  Dr. Venkatesh Prajna, Dr. Hanu Padmaja, Dr. Subhasis Mukherjee,Mr. Muneeswaran and Mr. Kumar produced the video The Capture of the Intraocular Disco Dancer which won the Best Video Award.
Dr. V. R. Saravanan
- Anti VEGF intravitreal injections
- Lasers in diabetic retinopathy - diabetic detinopathy dymposium
- Current management of age related macular degeneration - panel discussion
Dr. Rodney J. Morris
- Dyes in macular hole surgery
- Traumatic macular hole
He also chaired Retina free paper sessions
Dr. R. Ramakrishnan
- Management of cataract glaucoma by MSICS combined with trabeculectomy
Dr. R. Meenakshi
- Adjustable sutures in strabismus surgery
- IOL in special situation
Dr. Padmavathy
- Retro bulbar neuritis easily misdiagnosed
Dr. Lional Raj
- Modified pterygium procedures with reduced recurrence rates
Dr.Nithila
- Maintenance of remission of chronic dry eyes with topical cyclosporine a therapy
Dr. Shivkumar
- Difficulties in managing nuclear prolapse and extraction in manual SICS
Dr. Maneksha
- Our experience in frontalis sling surgery by using silicone rod
Dr. Sandeep Bachu
- A typical presentation of cramiopharymgioma
- Corneal topographic changes following pterygium surgery with conjunctival autograf
Dr. R. Venkatesh
- Torsional phaco femto laser assisted phaco
- Laser assisted deep sclerectomy (Video)
Dr. K. Veena
- Evaluation of incomitant strabismus
- IOL implantation in children-techniques
- Recent advances in the management of amblyopia
Dr. Badrinath Talwar
- Management of PCR
Dr. Haripriya Aravind
- Capsulorhexis: Phaco step by step
- SICS: IOL placement in eyes with inadequate capsular support
Dr. Naresh Babu
- Basics of ultrasonography
- My experience in 23G vitrectomy
Dr. Syed Mohideen Abdul Khadar
- Minimal invasive foreign body removal
Dr. Niraj Kumar Agarwal
- Virtual reality versus donor eye for learning capsulorhexis
Dr. N. Venkatesh Prajna
- Management of flap dislocation in DSAEK
Dr. P. Vijayalakshmi
- Paralytic strabismus
Dr. Muralidhar
- Managing the 'A' and 'V' in strabismus
- Treating Nystagmus: How have we fared?
- A guide to diagnosing nystagmus
Dr. Tamilarasi
Conducted an instruction course on currently available A-scan machines and formulae used
Dr. Jeyanthan
- Serious ophthalmic pathology in patients presenting trivial complaints
Dr. Usha Kim
- Challenges in ophthalmology
Dr. Sathya T. Ravilla
- Binocularity following late surgery in infantile strabismus

  Poster presentations
Sushil Kumar Dubey
– Involvement of LOXL1 gene variations in south Indian patients with Exfoliation syndrome and exfoliation glaucoma
N. Prasanthi
- Myocilin Gene Splice site variants role in POAG
S. Sudha Priya
- Characterisation of the age related macular degeneration in donor eyes
T.Merlin Premalatha
- Cytokine profile in aqueous humor of parasitic granuloma
J.Cornelia Reena
- Real Time PCR in the diagnosis of postoperative Endophthalmitis
J. Lakshmi Priya
- Identification of fusarium species by molecular methods and their antifungal susceptibility from patient's with corneal ulcer
Lalan kumar Arya
- Presumed trematode induced granulomatous Uveitis in South India
Oral presentations
B.Suganthalakshmi
- AMD genes and its association with DR in South Indian Population
Dr.P.Sundaresan
- Spectrum of Candidate Genes Mutation Associated with Indian Familial Oculocutaneous Albinism Patients
Dr.C.Gowri Priya
- Characterisation of buccal mucosal epithelial stem cells and Evaluation of its efficacy in corneal surface reconstruction Dr.S.Senthilkumari
- Ocular Kinetics of Topical Voriconazole in human its stability
Dr.Lalitha Prajna, Dr.R.Shanthi, Mr.Gowthaman and Ms.Lalitha also participated in the meeting.

Dr. R. Venkatesh participated in the following panel discussions:
- How to enhance Glaucoma Management in African Hospitals?
- How to enhance awareness of Glaucoma in Public, government, and among healthcare professionals?

The workshop was arranged for clinical trial staff of Aravind Eye Care System. Faculty from Allergan trained the participants on critical areas of GCP. Course materials including GCP guideline books were distributed to the participants. Dr. S.R. Rathinam, Chief - Uvea Clinic gave a crisp introduction on GCP. Quiz programme was also conducted during the workshop. The participants received GCP qualification certificate by Allergan, Inc.

A training programme was held for school teachers at Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry. Participants included 60 teachers from private and government schools of Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts. 13 schools with strength of 12500 from Cuddalore district and 8 schools with the strength of 11,228 from Nagapattinam were covered. Dr. Veena, Chief-Paediatric ophthalmology welcomed the gathering and spoke on the genesis of Aravind Eye Care system. Dr. Jayashree, Resident spoke about the anatomy of eye and common eye diseases. Dr. Veena, spoke on common eye disorders in children and importance of nutrition in eye care for children. Ms. Devi, Refractionist demonstrated visual acuity measurement procedure. The teachers were taken for a hospital tour.

A training programme was held for school teachers at Attur, Salem district on July 31.  75 teachers from private and government schools in and around Attur attended the programme. 23 schools with total strength of 11,000 children were covered under this training programme. Mr.R.Meenakshi Sundaram, Mr.P.Jeyaram and Mr.T.Muthuramalingam facilitated this training programme. The training schedule focused the objectives of teachers' training, genesis of Aravind Eye Care system, the anatomy of eye and common eye diseases, visual acuity measurement and a demo. The post-training activities and role of teachers for the successful completion of the programme were emphasised. Lions club of Attur extended a great help in arranging the training programme.

Similar training programme was conducted at Aravind, Madurai on July 31 for 40 teachers from 3 schools in Madurai and 1 school from Sattur with a total strength of 8,000 children. Aravind team consisting of Mr. Mohammed Gowth, Mr. Murugesan, Mrs. Renuka and Mrs. Pitchaimeena handled the training schedule. The teachers were taken for a hospital tour also.

  Ms. Hepsiba Jawahar, Eye Bank Manager–RAIEB delivered eye donation lecture at Lady Doak College on July 10 in which 1500 UG students participated. At another lecture organised at the Mahalir Thittam, Collectorate meeting hall, 13 Block Development Officers and 25 NGOs participated.
At the eye donation awareness program conducted at Allanganallur Primary Health Centre on July 21, medical officers from Palamedu, Allanganalur, Mooduvarpatty, and Iyyankottai, and village health workers participated. Ms. Hepsiba Jawahar, Eye Bank Manager addressed the gathering on the importance of eye donation, process of eye collection, enucleation etc.
A similar programme was conducted at Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Kappalur on July 24. Around 50 members participated in the programme. Pamphlets and brochures were distributed.

At Aravind – Pondicherry
August 6
Aravind – Pondicherry conducted eye donation awareness programme for the nursing students of Vinayaka Mission College for Paramedical Science. 36 Students attended the programme. Dr.Harikrishna gave a lecture on eye banking and importance of eye donation and a special lecture was given by Dr. K.Veena, Medical Consultant about the role of various organisations in creating awareness on eye donation in the society.

Dr.R.Ramakrishnan, Chief Medical Officer inaugurated the Library for MLOPs. Doctors, MLOPs and Admin staff attended the inaugural function.

  Mr. Shavoz Pilip, Manager - Patient Care attended the training programme which was mainly intended to facilitate accreditation of hospitals and organisational excellence. It was organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII-IQ). The objective of the Workshop was to create awareness about the accreditation procedures.

Alandurai vision centre celebrated its first anniversary, organising exhibition on the importance of eye care and the functions of vision centres, A Diabetic Retinopathy screening camp was also conducted where in the outpatient turnout was 87 with 28 known Diabetes patients and 1 new patient. Various community leaders and Lions Clubs members participated in the programme. Mr.Murugaraju, Camp Manager welcomed the gathering and briefed the audience on the functions and uses of Primary Eye Care Centre in the community. A total of 180 members attended the function. Ms. Sudha, Vision Centre Coordinator presented the annual report of the centre. Dr. Manohar Babu, Camp Medical Officer and Mr.Vasudevan - Manager Administration honoured the chief guests. Dr. Aravind Pal Singh- Retina Fellow and Dr. Jitendra - Senior Resident and Incharge of Alandurai centre were the key persons in making the whole event a successful one.

Vision Centre at Periyanaickenpalayam celebrated its third anniversary with a variety of programmes. An awareness exhibition on eye care and the functions of vision

centre was organized. A Diabetic Retinopathy Screening camp was conducted where the outpatient turnout was 132 with 68 known diabetics and 2 new patients. Various community leaders attended the programme.
Mr.Murugaraju, Camp Manager welcomed the gathering. Ms. Vidhya, Vision centre coordinator presented the annual report of the centre. Dr. Aravind Pal Singh-Retina Fellow and Dr. Santhosh Kumar - Senior Resident and Incharge of Periyanaickenpalayam centre were the key persons in making the camp successful.

A motivational talk was given by Prof. Solomon Pappaiah for all the employees of AECS and Aurolab at GVERI premises, Madurai. The employees from satellite hospitals and Aurolab joined the programme through teleconferencing.

  Dr. G. Natchiar was invited as the chief guest for the valedictory function of LOSA (Lakshmi Old Students Association) Meet, an annual state level TVS alumni event and inter – school cultural festival. She delivered an inspiring address stressing the need for having a strong vision in life. She also urged the students to come forward and join the movement for the cause of creating a green and clean Madurai. The Hindu News

  Dr. P.M. Aravind and Ms. R. Regitha attended workshop on training of Senior Research Fellow and Data Entry Operator for National Retinoblastoma Registry – ICMR project.

  Workshop for trainers was conducted at LAICO from July 24 - 25. The audience included tutors, senior MLOPS, academic committee members, HR personnel and nursing superintendents. Participants from eight departments like OPD, OT, Ward, Refraction, Housekeeping, MRD and Opticals attended the workshop.

  Dr. Maghizh Anandan, Consultant Ophthalmologist, Royal Derby Hospital, London, visited Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry and delivered a lecture on Management of Astigmatism in Cataract Surgery.
Dr. Pradeep Ramulu, Assistant Professor, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore visited Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry on July 13 and delivered a lecture on Trabeculectomy. He also conducted a quiz programme on Paediatric Glaucoma.

  A team of 30 members from Pegasus and Mind Tree visited Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry. Dr. K. Thiruvengadakrishnan, Consultant, presented an overview of Aravind Eye Care System.

  Sixth batch of MLOP Supervisors and Tutors for Aravind - Pondicherry has been selected. A total of 9 members were selected as supervisors and tutors.

Tibetan dance by Tibetan nurses was the highlight of the event. Various cultural performance by the MLOPs added colour to the programme.

  Ms. Sashipria, Senior Faculty, LAICO and Dr. Maneksha, Aravind – Tirunelveli made follow up visits to different hospitals in Nigeria. This was in continuation of the needs assessment visit initiated in December 2008. Ms. Sashipriya also visited Fundacion Paraguay and had a strategic level discussion regarding leadership, pricing and outreach strategies, standardisation of protocols and processes etc.

Mr. Sanil Joseph, Faculty – LAICO and Dr. M. Frederick, Aravind – Madurai visited Oudomxay Provincial Eye Unit, LAO PDR to facilitate a participatory process to identify existing business model for the Oudomxay provincial eye unit, its potential as a regional centre and the key areas that need to be addressed for it to be a more sustainable model.

Mr. Suresh Kumar, Faculty - LAICO visited Morium Eye Hospital (Bangladesh), Kalinga Eye Hospital and Research Centre (Orissa), Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Eye Hospital (Jharkand) and Sundarban Social Development Centre Eye Hospital (West Bengal) to facilitate a vision building workshop organised by Netra Niramay Niketan, West Bengal as part of CCO activity.

  Ms. Sashipriya K.M, Faculty - LAICO visited IIM- Bengaluru to provide an overview on AECS to the students of management.

Ms. K. Renugadevi, Junior Research Fellow, Aravind Medical Research Foundation underwent training on the expression studies of novel mutations using DNA samples from Aravind Eye Hospital under the guidance of Dr. Markus Preising, Department of Ophthalmology, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen Campus, Germany. She is working on DST-DAAD Indo-German collaborative project to understand the "Molecular Genetics of Albinism in the Indian population".

As part of building the 'Research Capacity' at LAICO, Mr. Sanil Joseph attended a two weeks course on 'Principles and Practices of Epidemiology' at Community Health and Training Centre, Christian Medical College (CMC)– Vellore from July 19 – 31.

 

Click here to view Consultancy statistical report

 

Course title	Training Centre	Total Number Trained as on June 2010	Enrollments for July 2010
Long Term Fellowship Courses-For Ophthalmologists
Fellowship in Paediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus	Madurai	50	1
	Tirunelveli	2	0
	Coimbatore	16	0
	Pondicherry	1	0
Fellowship in Retina Vitreous	Madurai	90	3
	Tirunelveli	1	0
	Coimbatore	23	0
	Pondicherry	4	0
Short Term Fellowship Courses
Fellowship in Orbit & Oculoplasty	Madurai	24	5
Short Term Courses - For Ophthalmologists
Diagnosis and Management of Glaucoma	Madurai	111	1
	Tirunelveli	101	2
	Coimbatore	80	0
IOL Microsurgery	Madurai	697	0
	Tirunelveli	268	0
	Coimbatore	204	2
	Pondicherry	8	0
Phacoemulsification	Madurai	118	1
	Tirunelveli	63	1
	Coimbatore	74	1
	Pondicherry	15	0
Small Incision Cataract Surgery	Madurai	142	2
	Tirunelveli	101	1
	Coimbatore	115	1
	Pondicherry	14	1
	Theni	0	1
Lasers in Diabetic Retinopathy	Madurai	233	0
	Coimbatore	222	0
Fundus Fluorescein Angiography and Ultrasonography	Madurai	34	1
Short Term Training in Vitrectomy (Virtual)	Madurai	2	1
	Coimbatore	1	0
Ocularist	Madurai	14	1
Paediatric Nurse	Madurai	52	1

 

• Indian journal of Ophthalmology 2010 Sep-Oct 58(5) P-421-423 726
  Parag K Shah, V Narendran, N Kalpana
  -In vivo growth of retinoblastoma in a newborn infant
• Molecular vision 2010 16:1514-1524. 727
  Kathirvel Renugadevi, Asim Kumar Sil, Vijayalakshmi Perumalsamy, Periasamy Sundaresan
  - Spectrum of candidate gene mutations associated with Indian familial oculocutaneous and ocular albinism

 

July - 2010
Hospitals	Madurai	Theni	Tirunelveli	Coimbatore	Pondicherry	Total
HOSPITAL OUT-PATIENT VISITS
Paying (New & Review)	44,387	6,822	22,319	30,521	18,790	122,839
Free (Direct walk-in)	16,068	2,168	6,663	9,913	6,030	40,842
OUTREACH OUT PATIENTS
Regular Eye Camps	11,471	3,050	5,767	5,194	6,982	32,190
Diabetic Retinopathy camps	534	83	-	1,594	349	2,560
Refraction Camps	1,593	1,724	391	864	597	5,169
Mobile Refraction Unit	-	656	-	-	-	656
School Screening	-	-	300	3,819	1,100	5,219
Paediatric Camps	182	-	-	-	726	908
Vision Centres	6,268	3,919	3,392	2,355	1,835	17,769
Community Eye Clinics	3,699	1,546	3,879	2,811	-	11,935
Total OP Examinations	84,202	19,968	42,711	57,071	36,135	240,087
SURGERIES
Paying	2,949	354	1,116	1,736	989	7,144
Free (including the subsidized camp surgeries)	3,459	277	846	1,661	597	6,840
Camp	3,348	349	1,494	1,630	1,923	8,744
Total Surgeries	9,756	980	3,456	5,027	3,509	22,728

An awareness exhibition on Pediatric eye diseases and Diabetic Retinopathy was arranged for the public during the visit of Dr. Kalpana Narendran, Senior Medical Officer, Aravind - Coimbatore. Posters, charts and models were displayed. Around 220 people visited the exhibition.

Graduation Day of the fourth batch of MLOPs was celebrated. Dr. Kalpana Narendran, Mentor-Sudarshan Netralaya, Mrs & Mr. Jayesh Shanghvi, Trustees, hospital staff and parents of the MLOPs attended the programme. There was the lamp lighting ceremony and the graduates took the pledge. MLOPs shared their two year working experience at Sudarshan Netralaya.

Sudarshan Netralaya successfully completed three years of service and celebrated its third anniversary on July 20. Function started with Swagat dance by junior MLOPs. Dr. Kalplana Narendran and the trustees of the hospital addressed the gathering and appreciated the service of the staff towards the elimination of needless blindness. Cultural programme by the staff added colour to the event.

Ignorance is not confined to the poor and uneducated. Even much educated persons are ignorant in matters unconnected with their profession. Mr. Manimaran (real name shielded) who came to Aravind–Pondicherry for treatment can be cited as an example. He was not aware that continual use of a steroid medicine will cause vision loss.

The 45 year old engineer was working in a well known organisation as an engineer. His appearance and manner of talking would confirm that he was an educated and well experienced man. But no one could guess him to be a glaucoma patient.

Mr. Manimaran eyes were examined in Aravind glaucoma clinic and was found to have the blinding disease. Since his optic nerve was largely damaged he had lost 90% of total vision having only the central vision. He had lost his side vision completely. Doctor advised laser surgery in an effort to retain his existing vision.

Later an ophthalmic assistani talked to the patient and enquired if he was using any eye drop medicine Mr. Manimaran opened a small bag and took out an eye drop container which was labeled as Zoxan – D. It was Dexamethazone, a steroid. And the information given by him that he was using it for the past 3 years shocked the employee because the medicine is to be used only under a doctor's advice and that too on a limited dose.

When asked for more details, the patient said that he had an eye problem with swelling and reddishness 3 years back. He consulted a nearby private eye doctor who prescribed Zoxan – D. The medicine gave relief within a few days. After using the eye drops the engineer felt as if he had gained somewhat a better vision. Hence, he began to use the medicine daily in the morning and night continually for 3 years. As a result he developed glaucoma in both the eyes.

As advised by Aravind doctor, the engineer underwent surgery on both the eyes with an interval of two months between the operations to reduce his eye pressure and save his existing vision.

Before leaving the hospital Mr. Manimaran said that despite being well educated he has committed a mistake of taking the eye drops for such a long time without the advice of the doctor. He regretted for his ignorance. "No one should act like me; we should do exactly what the doctor asks us to do to protect our eyes. I have now realised how important the vision is for one's life. I am grateful to Aravind for performing surgery to save my residual vision" – he said.

Sr. Varalakshmi
Aravind - Pondicherry