LAICO, 5-10 December 2024

Organised by LAICO, the training programme included 15 participants from Tata Steel Foundation, Jharkhand, and Odisha. It featured classroom sessions covering topics such as global blindness, barriers in eye care delivery, common eye conditions, planning comprehensive eye screening camps in the community, community referral systems, and retinopathy of prematurity.

The participants attended a school screening camp, a community eye health education programme in a rural village, and a comprehensive eye screening camp. They also had the opportunity to observe preoperative procedures, postoperative examinations, and counselling sessions. Additionally, they were trained to develop health education materials and attended eye camp monitoring meetings.

By the end of the training, participants had developed outreach strategies for their respective organisations, which they will implement upon returning to their locations.

LAICO, 14-26 November 2024

LAICO organised the 53rd batch of the Certificate Course for four participants from Cambodia, Guatemala, India, and Nepal. Classroom sessions covered topics such as demand generation, service marketing, GIS planning, and eye care need estimation for the service area population.

Participants had the opportunity to meet the community sponsors and attended various types of eye camps. They also observed counselling sessions, received training on developing health education materials, and participated in eye camp monitoring meetings.

By the end of the course, participants developed outreach strategies for their respective hospitals, which they would implement upon returning to their countries.

LAICO, 29-30 November 2024

As part of October Summit, the two-day consultation programme, organised by LAICO focused on addressing key challenges such as the diagnostic gap, compliance gap, and quality gap in cataract surgery and refractive error services. These efforts aimed to enhance access and quality in eye care services, contributing to achieving the Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) and Effective Refractive Error Coverage (eREC) targets by 2030.

The event brought together 29 participants from across three countries, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, representing a diverse group of stakeholders in eye care.  The programme began with a welcome address by Dhivya Ramasamy, Executive Director, LAICO, followed by a keynote address from Dr. Andreas Mueller, Technical Advisor for the Global Vision and Eye Care Programme, World Health Organisation. Over the course of two days, participants engaged in plenary discussions and collaborative group work to develop strategies and actionable plans. The consultation concluded with a valedictory session led by Thulasiraj Ravilla, Emeritus Executive Director, LAICO.

Fiji, 18-22 November 2024

Organised by Fred Hollows Foundation, New Zealand, and facilitated by Aravind Eye Care System, an Ophthalmic Instruments Maintenance Training Course was held at the Pacific Eye Institute, Suva, Fiji. Three members from the Biomedical Engineering Department of Aravind-Madurai, including Prof. N. Manickam, N. Kasthuri, and R. Jayalakshmi conducted the onsite programme. A total of 20 trainees from Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa, and Kiribati, participated. Several repaired pieces of equipment were available, which helped the facilitators provide both theoretical knowledge and practical knowledge. All participants gained hands-on experience in dismantling and reassembling equipment such as streak retinoscopes, direct and indirect ophthalmoscopes, keratometers, and slit lamps.

They were also taught how to clean optics, replace bulbs, and ensure the correct ratings of fuses where needed. Additionally, they were trained in the basic care, maintenance, and troubleshooting of devices including auto-refractometers, lasers, applanation, tonometers, iCare tonometers, photo slit lamps, surgical microscopes, A/B scans, and optical coherence tomography equipment.

A final assessment was conducted via a Google form, which revealed a significant increase in the trainees’ confidence in handling ophthalmic instruments. To further support their learning, a WhatsApp group was created to enable ongoing interaction with the facilitators.

The trainees were provided with toolkits, cleaning supplies, lubricating materials, a Handbook on Instruments and Equipment Maintenance, and a DVD on Ophthalmic Instruments Maintenance, a step-by-step video guide illustrating care and maintenance procedures.

Jaipur, 11-13 November 2024

As part of capacity-building initiatives, Syed Ali, Senior Faculty, LAICO, and Dr. Naveen, Medical Consultant, Cornea & Refractive Surgery Services, Aravind-Pondicherry, conducted a Needs Assessment Visit to Sai Netra Mandir, Jajpur, Odisha. This visit, carried out in collaboration with LAICO and Sightsavers, aimed to enhance the district’s CSR efforts in eye care.