The month of July carries immense significance for Aravind Eye Hospital as it commemorates its Mission Day on 7th July, in remembrance of its founder, the late Dr. Venkataswamy, affectionately called as Dr. V., along with the birth anniversary of G. Srinivasan, one of the founding members. The hospital has dedicated itself to the noble cause of eliminating needless blindness, upholding Dr. V.’s vision. Therefore, the Mission Day revitalises his spirit of unwavering commitment, inspiring the Aravind team to pursue the fulfilment of his noble vision.

Throughout this eventful month, various activities have been organised, including several Continuing Medical Education (CME) programmes, training initiatives, and awareness campaigns, supplementing the hospital’s routine clinical activities. These events have helped strengthen the team’s skills and knowledge while combatting the issue of needless blindness.

A fire accident that occurred at Aurolab recently, revealed the remarkable resilience of its staff members, who worked tirelessly to facilitate a swift comeback after the incident. Now, Aurolab is back in full swing, operating as usual.

This series features the highlights of these remarkable endeavours and many more.

Note: The events that happened between 15^th June and 15^th July are featured here.

Bhubaneswar, 3-6 July

Dr. S.R. Krishnadas, Director-Fellowship and Physician Development Programme, Aravind Eye Care System, delivered an invited talk on Family screening for early glaucoma detection: Chase the families, at the Prof. C.S. Baskaran Endowment Lecture, which was organised by LV Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar.

Aravind-Tirunelveli, 9^th July

A one-day CME was organised by Aravind-Tirunelveli to familiarise the participants with the revolutionary changes and updates in the field of Uvea. A panel of national-level faculty was invited to discuss the recent trends and advancements in Uveitis at length.
The inaugural function included a prayer song, lighting of Kuthuvilakku, and a welcome address by Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, Advisor & Senior Glaucoma Consultant, Aravind-Tirunelveli. Dr. S. Balamurugan, Chief, UVEA Services, Aravind-Pondicherry proposed the vote of thanks.
A quiz competition on Uveitis was conducted, and Dr. Jonathan, Fellow, UVEA, Aravind-Madurai, won the first prize, while Jeyakohila MLOP, a supervisor in the Uvea clinic, won the first prize in the Uveitis photograph competition. A total of 96 participants, including 82 delegates comprising ophthalmologists from Tamil Nadu, and fellows postgraduates, attended the CME.

The invited faculties gave talks on the following topics:

• Dr. S.R. Rathinam – U-turns in uveitis (Panel Discussion)
  –  Leptospiral Uveitis, and My recent learnings that changed my practice
  – Algorithmic approach to uveitis (Chairperson)
• Dr. Radhika – Choroiditis (Chairperson)
• Dr. Vedhanayaki – Retinal Vasculitis & Video presentation: Surgery in uveitic cataract
• Dr. Anjana – Imaging correlations made simple in uveitis-Bscan (Chairperson)
• Dr. Jonathan – Panuveitis

Aravind, 7^th July

In the commemoration of the 17th Memorial Day of Dr. V, the Founder, and the birth anniversary of G. Srinivasan, Founding Member, Aravind Eye Care System (AECS), Mission Day was observed across all Aravind centres.
At Aravind-Madurai, there were bhajans and talks by senior leaders who shared their experience of working with Dr. V & G.S. Moreover, a video tribute to both visionaries was screened. All these events were telecasted to doctors, administrative staff, and senior MLOPs of all Aravind centres.
During the event at Aravind-Tirunelveli, a special prayer meeting including bhajans, and reading a few chapters from the Vizhivelvi Book was arranged in the morning for the newly recruited MLOPs. Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, V. Arumugam, Nursing Superintendent, and R. Lakshmi, Manager-HR, spoke about the significance of Mission Day and encouraged everyone to work towards achieving the founder’s mission of eliminating needless blindness. A special flower arrangement in the meditation room added grace to the event.
Aurolab celebrated Mission Day in a pleasant manner. During the special occasion, Krishnakumar, Senior Regulatory Manager, Aurolab, shared his memories of being with the two great leaders, Dr. V and GS.

Aravind-Theni, 2^nd July

Aravind-Theni organised a CME programme in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Ophthalmic Association (TNOA) with the goal of sharing the most recent discoveries in the field of Ophthalmology and emphasising the role of physicians in preventing blindness. The programme was graced with the esteemed presence of Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, Chairman-Emeritus, Dr. G. Natchiar, Director-Emeritus, AECS, Dr. R. Ramakrishnan, and the current leadership members of TNOA. TNOA also honoured individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of ophthalmology, including Dr. Karunanithi, Senior Ophthalmologist, Aravind-Theni, Dr. P. Namperumalsamy, and Dr. G. Natchiar. This CME had 43 participants and was authorised for the credit hours by Tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC).

Aravind-Madurai, 29-30 June

A Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop was successfully conducted for the MLOP training team at LAICO. The main objectives of the event were to standardise the training plan for the upcoming MLOP second-year training programme and to plan for the implementation of Aurosiksha’s Learning Management System (LMS).

The highlights of the workshop were as follows:

• Sharing of best training practices by each hospital
• Development of a standardised schedule for the second-year training across six MLOP departments
• Formulation of a standardised skill assessment plan for both trainees and employees
• Hands-on practice on Aurosiksha’s LMS, including tasks such as taking attendance, teacher rating, accessing teaching resources, and generating reports
• Sessions on learner-centred teaching, flipped classrooms, and effective feedback were also included.

The workshop was attended by 106 participants from eight Aravind centres, including MLOPs, in-charge doctors, tutors, optometrists, and training coordinators. This ToT will be followed up with monthly meetings among tutors from all Aravind centres to ensure that training delivery is on-track.

Aravind-Madurai, 5-17 June

Aravind-Madurai organised an awareness programme at Kanniwadi Vision Centre on 17th June for the labourers who work under the 100-day employment scheme in the surrounding rural communities of Kuttathuppatti, Geethippampatti, Tippampattikalani, and Melatippampatti. The programme aimed to educate the villagers about the services provided by Aravind-Madurai through its vision centres in serving the community and creating awareness about eye diseases. Raman, Vision Centre Field Staff, spoke to the villagers as part of the awareness campaign. Over 250 villagers participated in the programme, and out of them, 30 had eye issues and proceeded to the Kanniwadi Aravind Vision Centre for testing.
Similar programmes were conducted in the surrounding areas of the Elumalai Vision Centre particularly in Vandapuli village on 14th June, and at the Vadipatti Vision Centre on 5th June. A total of 67 villagers and 52 villagers took part, respectively, with 8 villagers identified with issues in their eyes and sent for an eye examination to the respective centres.

Aravind-Chennai, 23^rd June

The 9^th Readers Club meeting was conducted by Aravind-Chennai as a part of the “My Life My Pride” Programme. The aim of the event was to raise awareness about the role of book reading in the growth of the younger generation. The special guest for the event was Malar Selvam, the President of Tamil Sangam, and an Industrial entrepreneur. In her inspiring speech, she shared her own journey from a small village near Erode to her current position, attributing her success to the knowledge gained through books and education. She stressed the importance of cultivating daily reading habits and encouraged the young MLOPs to manage work pressure by developing reading habits.
The entire programme was coordinated by the young MLOPs in charge of the Library Club, who shared their own experiences in book reading and recited poems they had written. The Programme concluded with the distribution of certificates to MLOPs who participated in the Marathon event organised by Chennai Maduravoyal Police station on 18th June, aimed at improving the physical well-being of the public. Nine MLOPs participated in the event, and the team received a shield & medal for being the best team, awarded by an IPS officer. Seemavathy won 4th place and Pavithra won 5th place.

Aravind-Madurai, 17-18 June

The Department of Cataract Services, Aravind -Madurai organised the workshop on Secondary IOL, which comprised classroom lectures, video sessions, and hands-on practice using goats’ eyes.  These sessions were skillfully moderated by seven faculty members from Aravind Eye Hospitals. A total of 20 participants from various Aravind Eye Hospitals took part, and the workshop was well received by all attendees.

Watrap, 21^st June/ Pandalkudi 27^th June

Aravind-Madurai organised two eye donation awareness programmes at Watrap, and Panadalkudi in partnership with the Govt. hospital, Watrap, and Primary Health Centre respectively. D. Saravanan, Manager, Rotary Aravind International Eye Bank (RAIEB), conducted sessions on Eye donation, and hospital cornea retrieval programme and emphasised the importance of health care professionals in eye donation in both events.  The event at Watrap was attended by a total of 20 individuals, including doctors and nurses, while the programme at Pandalkudi saw participation from 95 individuals, including doctors, nurses, and village health nurses.

For more information on this, click the link here. (English)  (தமிழ்)

Aurolab, 1^st July

Aurolab’s Domestic Marketing team created Your Vision in Safe Hands, a video launched on Doctors’ Day to showcase its commitment to providing the highest quality eye care solutions to patients worldwide. In the event held at Aurolab, Sivanand, Domestic Marketing Manager, delivered the welcome address. This was followed by a special address from, Dr. S. Aravind, Aurolab Trustee and Director-Projects, AECS. The video was officially launched by Sriram, Managing Director-Aurolab.

Palampur, 10-11 June

Aurolab’s Domestic Marketing staff participated in the conference, promoting and showcasing products such as Aurovue Vivid, I-Nova, Omniglo, Hawki, Aurovue EV Toric IOL, and HummingbirdLite.

LAICO, 27^th June

As part of the collaborative activities between Aravind-Madurai and Novartis Arogyaparivar at 20 Aravind Vision Centres across AECS, an observation team consisting of Jerome, Research Associate, Biostatistics, Jhansi Sunitha, Manager, Vision Centre, and Mohammed Gowth, Senior Faculty, LAICO, visited two villages to assess the impact of health education given by the Vision Centres. They observed variations in knowledge regarding eye conditions and noticed differences in the delivery of health education among the staff. These variations have resulted in a reduced impact of health education and referral cards within the community. To address this issue, a refresher course was organised for the Arogya Parivar team members at LAICO. Field workers from the REACH project and Vision Centres also participated in the Programme. The sessions were handled by Dr. A. Kowsalya, Medical Consultant, Aravind-Madurai, Udaya Kumar, Senior Faculty, LAICO and Mohammed Gowth. Dr. Lalitha Prajna, Chief, Microbiologist, and Jhansi interacted with the participants.

Raipur/Durtlang/Jalgaon, 14-21 June

Dr. Balamuruganandaraj, Medical officer, Aravind-Pondicherry and B. Ganesh Babu, Senior Manager, Operations, AECS, visited Kantai Netralaya in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, from 18-21 June. The purpose of the visit was to assess the facility, systems, and processes in place, identify challenges faced, and explore opportunities for growth and expansion. The team visited the base hospital, attended an outreach programme, and visited a primary eye care centre in Chopda. They met with the team of doctors and administrative members to discuss their findings and opportunities, as well as to explain the collaboration exercise. Moreover, the team has been invited to a vision building workshop at LAICO.
Similarly, Yesunesan, Senior Faculty, LAICO, and Dr. Umakanth, Medical Officer, Aravind-Tirupati, conducted a visit to Synod Hospital in Durtlang, Mizoram, from 14-16 June. Syed Ali, Senior Faculty, LAICO, and Dr. Preethi Mohanty, Chief-IOL, Aravind-Tirupati, from 8-10 June, visited MGM Eye Institute, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, to assess the infrastructure and functioning of the hospitals and to suggest recommendations for improving compliance with NABH standards.