Rwanda, 22-26 May

Prof. N. Manickam, Consultant and N. Kasthuri and S. Meenakshi, Bio Medical Engineers, Instruments and Equipment Maintenance Department, Aravind-Madurai, were the resource persons for the on-site programme organised by The Fred Hollows Foundation, Rwanda. A total of 17 Biomedical Technicians from various Government General Hospitals in Rwanda, selected by the Health ministry of Rwanda, attended the programme. The five-day course included discussions and demonstrations on the basic equipment used in eye clinics, such as Direct Ophthalmoscope (DO), Streak Retinoscope, Indirect Ophthalmoscope (IO) and Slit Lamp. These instruments were dismantled and reassembled in front of the trainees. The trainees brought 21 different non-working instruments including, Streak, DO, Autorefractometer, Non-Contact Tonometers, Applanation Tonometer, Autoclave, Slit Lamp, Lensometer (Manual and Auto), A /B Scan and Keratometer. Most of the equipment was successfully repaired and some were made functional by simple replacement of parts.

Gurugram, Haryana, 29-31 May

Thulasiraj Ravilla, Director-Operations, AECS, Dr. Madhu Bhadaurai, Director, Regional Institute of Ophthalmology Eye Hospital Sitapur, Dr. Thiruvenkatakrishnan, Chief, Cornea & Refractive Surgery Services, Aravind-Chennai, R. Meenakshi Sundaram, Senior Manager, Clinical Services, Aravind-Madurai and R. Suresh Kumar, Senior Faculty, LAICO conducted the needs assessment visit to IGEH in Gurugram, India’s corporate hub. The objective of the visit was to assess the current performance and quality of IGEH, identify areas for improvement, suggest remedial measures, and guide the hospital in becoming a centre of excellence.