Aravind – Madurai, August 7 – 11

One of Aravind’s greatest contributions to the field of arts was its efforts to recognise the glory and name of A. Perumal, the artist who played a crucial role in the political and art scenario of the country during independence. This year marked the 106^th birth anniversary of Perumalda. An exhibition of his art works was arranged at LAICO during August 7-11. Mr. Thulasiraj Ravilla, Executive Director, LAICO inaugurated the exhibition. A workshop was conducted where eminent artists like Ramanan and Ravi Palette as well as LAICO faculty – Mr. Syed Ali and Ms. Dhivya Ramasamy discussed Perumalda’s art works and explained the techniques used by him. Dr. D. Sathish, an alumnae of Aravind handled a session on cartoon drawings. 33 participants took part in the workshop.  Drawing competition was organised for staff members from across the centres. Of the 130 entries received, the best three were awarded. Apart from this, the best drawing from each Aravind centre was given a certificate of appreciation.

Aravind – Madurai, August 18

The centre was inaugurated by Dr. Lalitha Prajna, NABH In-charge and Chief – Microbiology Lab, Aravind- Madurai. The centre was funded by Dr. Sudarshan and family. Dr. Sudarshan; Mrs. Kripa Singan, relative of Dr. Sudarshan and a long-time friend of Aravind; Dr. Ramanathan, Rtd. Medical Officer, Primary Health Centre, Viralimalai and Mr. Palaniappan, erstwhile MLA attended the inauguration. The centre examined 63 patients, of which 16 were advised for cataract surgery.  13 patients were advised to wear eye glasses and 5 patients placed orders for glasses.

Aravind- Madurai, August 16

Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai in collaboration with Rotary Club of Madras East, has introduced a device to improve the quality of life of people with vision impairment. Named Smart vision spectacles, the device is very light and portable and is equipped with a variety of functionalities such as detecting objects in the pathway; reading texts in multiple Indian languages; recognising faces. Smart vision spectacles is manufactured by an expert team led by Mr. Ramu Muthanghi, CEO,SHG Technologies, Bangalore in cooperation with VISION AID, an NGO based in Boston, USA,  The trial of the device was conducted at the Vision Rehabilitation centre, Aravind- Madurai by Mrs. Jeyaseeli Flora, Rehabilitationist under the guidance of Dr. P. Vijayalakshmi, Chief, Vision Rehabilitation Services.

The device was launched at a function organised in LAICO. Dr. P.Vijayalakshmi, welcomed the guests. Mrs. Jeyaseeli Flora described the features and uses of smart vision spectacles. Rtn. Mr. Raguram Ramakrishnan and Mrs. Sudha Raghuram, Rotary club of Madurai East distributed the spectacles to five visually impaired people.

Aravind’s senior leaders, Dr. P. Namperumalsamy and Mr. Thulasiraj Ravilla highlighted Aravind’s long-term collaboration with the Rotary Club in its sight restoration initiatives

Aravind-Pondicherry, August 27

Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry conducted the workshop which lasted for two hours. Dr. J Vedantha Srinivas, Senior Medical Officer, Clinical Research, SIMS Hospital, Chennai and Dr. Punitha VC, Epidemiologist, Dept. of Community Medicine, Meenakshi Medical College and Research Institute, Kanchipuram were the faculty. IEC Members, Aravind consultants and clinical research coordinators took part in the workshop. The workshop mainly focused on the latest updates in International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) – Good Clinical Practice (GCP); informed consent, ICMR guidelines during emergency situations and other regulatory guidelines. Dr. Tiroumourougane Serane, Chairperson, IEC presented souvenirs to the guests. Dr. Vedantha Srinivas distributed the certificates to the participants.

August 30

Sitapur Eye Hospital, Sitapur has joined hands with Aravind to enhance eye care in Uttar Pradesh over the next five years by working together to make Sitapur the major provider of eye care in that region. As part of this, a team of doctors, MLOPS, management staff, and representatives from Sitapur visited Aravind-Pondicherry. They were taken on a tour of the hospital by Dr.R.Venkatesh, Chief Medical Officer. Dr. V.R. Vivekanandan, Medical Consultant; Mr. Kalaivendan, Manager. Mr. Thulasiraj Ravilla, Director-Operations, Aravind Eye Care System met with the team and held discussions. The team was inspired by the hospital’s simple innovations for better efficiency.