Community-based initiatives that provide easy access for eye care are essential in a country like India. Instead of waiting for patients to turn up on their own at the hospital to seek care, eye care centres should proactively reach out to them and only thus, the problem of avoidable blindness can be addressed. Technology too can be utilised to the fullest potential to offer quality care. Aravind experimented with the model of primary eye care delivery through establishing telemedicine-enabled vision centres in rural areas way back in 2003. Over the years, this has evolved into a robust model for replication across the Indian states and even in other countries. Aravind opened five new vision centres, the highest ever for a month, thus taking the total to 100.

Aravind’s senior doctors – Dr. M. Srinivasan; Dr. S.R. Rathinam and Dr. Lalitha Prajna were felicitated at a special function organised by the Rotary Club on account of them being listed in the list of top researchers in the world.

As the threat of Covid seemed to be relatively less in the past few weeks, Aravind resumed its in-person training programmes and CMEs. Consultancy visits to other hospitals suspended due to the pandemic for a while are also resumed.