Coimbatore, July 20-25

On the occasion of’observing World Brain Day on July 22, Department of Neuro-ophthalmology, Aravind-Coimbatore organised an awareness week on Neuro-Ophthalmology.  Classes were held throughout the week in small batches for MLOPs and Administrators.  Postgraduates conducted dry lab sessions for the first and second year MLOPs. Quiz and drawing competitions were also conducted.  Webinars were organised daily for postgraduates across Aravind centres where sessions were handled by eminent neuro-ophthalmologists.

Virudunagar, May 27-28

Due to travel restrictions, many patients were not able to visit the hospital for their eye care needs.  A group of people thus greatly affected was the drivers of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC).  Over 600 drivers of the Virudhunagar Depot, who had to undergo their mandatory annual eye examination, could not get it done. To cater to their request, Aravind-Madurai team went to Virudhunagar Depot and screened 616 drivers over two days.

Aravind-Pondicherry, July 23

Aravind-Pondicherry opened a dry and wet lab to help doctors and allied ophthalmic personnel in training. Doctors can use these labs to hone their surgical and clinical skills. Training sessions in clinical skills are organised regularly for allied ophthalmic personnel. The lab was inaugurated by Mr. K. Kanagaraj, Manager, Aravind-Pondicherry.

Aravind-Coimbatore, June 26

Opticals Department, Aravind-Coimbatore organised an exhibition for the benefit of staff to make them understand the science and art of making spectacles.   Skill sets for optical sales and grinding were illustrated through charts and models.  Optical technicians displayed an interesting and innovative demonstration of optical grinding. A few competitions were arranged to keep the visitors engaged and ensure their participation.

Quality Council of India has developed a harmonized standard “Workplace Assessment for Safety and Hygiene” (WASH)” to help the organizations assess their preparedness to restart after COVID-19 lockdown and run their operations safely. This initiative is to ensure safe operations and workplace for safeguarding health and safety of employees, customers and the public.The assessment report generated will provide the applicant with an objective assessment of the safety and hygiene measures undertaken by them to mitigate the risk of COVID-19 infection. Aravind Eye Hospital at Coimbatore became the first hospital in the country to undergo assessment successfully. Aravind-Pondicherry also underwent the assessment successfully.

Aravind Eye Hospitals across the centres observed Dr. V’s 14^thMemorial Day solemnly and gracefully. Due to the restrictions brought in by COVID-19 crisis, the entire programme was streamed live via Aravind’s YouTube channel. Founding members, Dr. P. Namperumalsamy and Dr.G. Natchiar shared a special message to all staff. Bhajans were sung by staff from different centres.

Aravind-Pondicherry

To utilise free hours due to COVID lockdown to its maximum productivity, an academic extravaganza in the form of Writathon was organized to achieve maximum publications. Most of the times, articles, case reports and innovations written by doctors stop at the stage of submission. To make sure that the team gets a feel of submission, this annual event is organised where doctors sit together with a biostatistician, project coordinators, librarian and others and work hard to submit their work according to the guidelines of the journal. As a promising outcome, half a dozen articles by doctors at Aravind-Pondicherry got published in Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, August 2020 edition. The team dedicated this achievement to Chairman Emeritus, Padma Shri Dr. P. Namperumalsamy on his 80th birthday for his constant motivation and appreciation towards the event.

Articles published in IJO

1. Innovative application of ultraviolet rays and hydrogen peroxide vapor for decontamination of respirators during COVID-19 pandemic- An experience from a tertiary eye care hospital
2. A simple solution to prevent microscope eyepiece fogging and spectacle fogging in COVID-19 era
3. Elevated episcleral venous pressure and its implications: A case of Radius–Maumenee syndrome
4. Contact lens warpage: Lost but found
5. An eye behind an eye: A rare association of bilateral optic disc coloboma with retrobulbar cyst
6. Innovative intraocular lens loading magnified

Patient crowd being very less on account of travel restrictions, various centres of Aravind regularly organize webinars and virtual training sessions for staff on both clinical and eye care management topics.

Doctors and LAICO staff attendan online course from Institute for Health Improvement (IHI) with the principal objective of Improving and sustaining better health outcomes in populations and introducing fundamental concepts of the importance of quality improvement, bettering patient care flow processes and ensuring patient safety and facilitating improvement of leadership capabilities.Broad areas covered under this course include aspects of patient safety, improving patient care processes, patient centered care delivery, cost-effective care for populations, etc.

There has been a conscious effort to promote the spirit of innovation across the Aravind centres. Teams are formed in each centre whose responsibilities are to drive and disseminate innovations across AECS and share best practices with the world outside. The teams meet regularly to share innovative concepts implemented by them. Several learning sessions including those by IHI are also arranged for the team members.

Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry Care System in association with  Liverpool John Moores University conducted a webinar on Artificial Intelligence in eye care with a series of weekly lectures from July 2-23, 2020. Around 340 people registered. The main objective of the webinar was to help doctors develop a deep appreciation of the potential of AI in ophthalmology and ignite them to explore the topic. Topics covered were: The role of AI in health care and eye care; Introduction to AI and its history in healthcare; Different AI approaches in Glaucoma; Reading and understanding AI papers;and AI in general ophthalmology.