Aravind-Chennai, October 8

Aravind Eye Hospital, Chennai completed four years of its service to the needy. At the hospital day function, Dr.S.Aravind, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind-Chennai and Director-Projects, Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) welcomed the gathering. In remembrance of Mr.G.Srinivasan, one of the founding members of the organisation who passed away in May 2021, a video eulogy titled, The Invisible Player was screened. Dr.Karthik Srinivasan, Medical Officer, Vitreo Retina Services, presented a report on the activities of the challenging year 2020-2021. Chief guest for the evening, Prof. K.Balaji Singh, Head of General Surgery, Head of clinical services and Dean of students at the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, addressed the gathering and inspired them by his words of wisdom. Dr.B.Jayashree, Medical Consultant, Orbit and Oculoplasty services was presented with the 5-year service award. Dr.Anand Rajendran, Head, Vitreo retina services delivered the Vote of thanks. The formal ceremony was followed by a grand cultural programme which consisted of nine items, dedicated to the nine days and nine colours of the Navaratri festival, each item representing a particular attribute of Goddess Durga.

October 14, Aravind-Madurai

Aravind Eye Hospital – Madurai observed World Sight Day with elaborate programmes. Awareness bike rally was flagged off by Mr.P.Thangadurai, Deputy Police Commissioner, Madurai. District Collector, Dr.S.Aneesh Sekhar, IAS inaugurated the awareness exhibition and visited various stalls.  He made a pledge on the IAPB website as a mark of showing commitment towards caring for eyes. A signature campaign was also arranged in the hospital premise to motivate people to take care of their eyes. The Outreach Team organised a virtual awareness programme for camp sponsors on October 12. Leading causes of blindness – Cataract and Refractive Errors – were dealt with during the programme. A total of 54 camp sponsors took part in the session. During the meeting, the sponsors got an opportunity to get their doubts clarified.

Aravind – Tirunelveli

Programmes organised at Aravind-Tirunelveli were in line with the theme, Love your eyes.  On October 13, a meeting titled “Meet the Heroes” was organised and streamed live on YouTube. Low vision aid beneficiaries, Mr.Sankaranaryanan and Mr.Periasamy were the two heroes who were invited to give inspiring talks. Despite being with severe visual impairment, both of them fought all odds and came up in life with their sheer determination and making use of technology. Mr.Sankaranarayanan who is totally blind has cleared the bank exam and will soon be joining the Canara Bank as Probationary Officer.  Mr.Periasamy is a Computer Teacher at a Blind School in Tirunelveli.  Both gave inspiring talks and also demonstrated how people with low vision can be successful in life with the help of computers and technology.  On 14th October 2021, an awareness talk on sibling screening and paediatric eye diseases was given by Dr.R.Meenakshi.  Drawing and quiz competitions were conducted for the patients of the Paediatric Ophthalmology Clinic. Prizes were distributed to the winners.

Vision Centres arranged eye awareness sessions and free eye examinations for the people in remote villages. Sanarpatti Vision Centre organised an awareness session at Anjukulipatti on October 3.  A total of 91 people attended the programme and underwent eye examination. Of these, 80 people were referred to Sanarpatti Vision Centre for further eye examination; 30 came to the centre. 15 people were recommended for cataract surgery, 2 for glaucoma treatment and 5 for spectacles. 8 benefited by purchasing medicines.

Another programme was organised at Thirumanikam and Paapinaayakanpatti on October 06, 2021 by Elumalai Vision Centre. A total of 101 persons attended the event and underwent eye check. 15 people were referred to Elumalai Vision Centre for further eye examinations. Of these, 7 people visited the centre. Three were recommended for spectacles. Four benefited by purchasing eye drops.

Kannivadi Vision Centre organised an eye care awareness session during the Grama sabai koottam held at Pandrimalai village on October 20. A total of 62 women and 45 men participated.

Aravind – Coimbatore; October 1-2

To commemorate Dr.G.Venkataswamy’s 103rd birth anniversary and the silver jubilee of Aravind-Coimbatore, library organised a book fair for doctors, administrative staff and MLOPs in the hospital premises. Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers, Coimbatore and New Century Book House, Coimbatore joined Aravind-Coimbatore in this initiative. More than 300 people including patients visited the exhibition. An attractive set of bookmarks with Dr.V’s quotes were designed and distributed.

The book fair was a great opportunity to introduce various kinds of books to MLOPs and develop reading habit. Overall, this exhibition was the result of a commendable effort by the Librarian, Mr.Alugamani, and it was widely appreciated by one and all.

October 4

Dr.S.Aravind, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind-Chennai was invited to inaugurate the 2021-22 batch of nursing students at the Chettinad Nursing College, Chennai. His special address highlighting the aspects of compassion, empathy and care received an overwhelming response from the attendees.

Aravind-Madurai, October 12

Aravind’s association with the eminent artist-writer, Mr.Manohar Devadoss started over a decade ago and blossomed into a unique friendship. It was truly a gratifying moment for the organisation when the Postal Department, in commemoration of the Postal Week, released a set of post cards carrying Mano’s intricate sketches that showed the great city of Madurai, its buildings and landscape in the 1950s.

Aravind – Pondicherry, October 31

Mid-Level Ophthalmic Personnel is the driving force for the smooth and hassle-free operations of Aravind Eye Hospitals. For the first time in its history of 18 years, Aravind-Pondicherry organised an MLOP alumni meet; 85 alumni took part.

Dr.K.Veena, Head, Paediatric Ophthalmology Services and MLOP In-charge welcomed the audience to the function. Dr.R.Venkatesh, Chief Medical Officer facilitated the event. Alumni shared their experiences of working at Aravind and interacted with the senior members of Aravind. The event was even made exciting with the virtual invigorating talks by Dr.G.Natchiar, Director –Emeritus, Dr.R.D.Ravindran, Chairman – AECS and Dr.Usha Kim, Director – MLOP Training AECS. Special guest, Mr.Pulavar Shanmuga Vadivel addressed the alumni virtually on leading a healthy and productive life which was highly inspirational.  The programme was a grand success with a great number of alumni MLOPs in attendance, thanks to the proper planning and hard work of the nursing and HR teams.

Aravind – Coimbatore, October 25-30

World Stroke Day, observed on the 29th of October of each year, provides a platform to increase awareness about stroke in the community and all around the world. Established by the World Stroke Organization in 2006, Stroke Awareness Week 2021 was observed with the theme “Precious Time” – an apt topic amidst the Covid pandemic. This vision drives the global effort to raise awareness about the symptoms of a stroke, so that people can take prompt action and save lives. Aravind-Coimbatore tried to do its part in this universal effort to improve stroke prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and support. The Dept. of Neuro-Ophthalmology organised programmes in lieu of the Stroke Awareness Week. Posters in English and Tamil were displayed, videos on the same were broadcast in the waiting area, and lectures were held for MLOPs. The role played by neuro-ophthalmology in the occurrence of strokes (for example, visual field defects) was explained. MLOPs wore red ribbons, which brought about enquiries from several patients, and thus helped spread awareness about stroke. The need to be observant was emphasized, coupled with prompt action and management, as explained by the acronym BE FAST.

Aravind-Chennai, October 31

Aravind Eye Hospital, Chennai organised the CME for its MLOPS; about 220 MLOPs participated. Various clinical and nonclinical topics were discussed. The CME started with an introduction to patient safety goals followed by a quiz. Topics such as the importance of escorting and proper communication; prevention of surgical site infection; case discussion; insurance; counselling; asset management; ocular emergencies etc were dealt with during the CME.

Aravind-Pondicherry, November 1

Newly recruited MLOPs celebrated Freshers’ Day with a variety of cultural programmes which included songs; skit and dance. Dr.K.Veena, Chief, Paediatric Ophthalmology Clinic, Dr.S.Josephine Christy, Cornea Consultant, A.Sumathi, Manager-HRD, R.V.Selvarani, Nursing Superintendent, Nursing Superintendent took part in the event.

Aravind-Tirunelveli, October 29-30

Angaadi, the great charity fest was organised for the first time at Aravind-Tirunelveli and provided a unique shopping experience for the staff. The event was conceived with the notion of reusing things which people don’t want to use anymore. Items on sale included new and unused ones and were sold at a nominal price. Food courts with delicacies prepared in-house were arranged to keep the visitors engaged. Proceeds from the sales of items at Angaadi will be used for charity.

Aravind-Coimbatore, October 30

Mr.Rajendran, Manager, Facility management and Mr.Thilganathan, Safety officer from G.Kupusamy Naidu Memorial Hospital facilitated the session to highlight the importance of periodical preventive maintenance and documentation process.  They emphasized the importance of raising complaints online, call registering system and the rectification process. The session was very informative and helped electricians understand the different protocols for making the hospital a safe place for the patients as well as staff.

All Aravind centres including Aurolab offered special prayers on the occasion of Navarathri and Ayutha Pooja. Prasadam was distributed in all centres.

Aravind-Tirunelveli, October 29

Aravind-Tirunelveli celebrated Diwali with great participation from doctors, MLOPs and Admin staff. The evening was marked with glittering diyas, high tea and cultural programmes.  Celebration started with a prayer song.  Following this, various cultural programmes like folk dance, songs by doctors and a drama by MLOPs were staged. Sr.Vasantha, MLOP trainee shared a few words about Diwali and its significance. Sr.Saranya, MLOP new recruit displayed her skills in ‘Silambattam’.  Dr.R.Meenakshi, Chief Medical Officer gave a special address. Apart from congratulating everyone for the wonderful show, Dr.Meenakshi urged each and everyone to work with enthusiasm and zeal towards achieving the mission of eliminating needless blindness.