The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Hospital steps in to restore sight free of cost

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 13, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Hospital steps in to restore sight free of cost

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JULY 12. Three years ago, Arumugam's vision dimmed to the point where he could see things only very close to him. Gradually, he was left with almost no vision in the right eye, while with the left, he could see only up to a few feet.

A small farmer from Arasoor near Gummidipoondi, about 40 km west of the city, Arumugam could not find treatment he could afford. The 60-year-old finally saw light when doctors of Sankara Eye Hospital visited his village for an eye camp in March. He was referred to Sri Sankara Health Centre at Pammal for free cataract surgery.

On Friday, he had his second eye operated on free of cost.

He was one of 49 elderly patients from Gummidipoondi who underwent free surgery at the hospital on Friday. The patients had queued up outside the operation theatre, wearing eye-patches of different colours, to indicate whether they were diabetic or not.

Annually, the hospital performs 12,000 free surgeries for villagers in Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts and parts of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. S. Visvanathan, honorary secretary, said those with an income of less than Rs. 1,750 a month were eligible for the surgeries.

The hospital received a grant assistance of about Rs. 22 lakhs from the Japanese Government towards diagnostic and surgical equipment. On Friday, the Japanese Consul-General, Ryuzo Kikuchi, inaugurated the facilities. He said the Japanese Government had tied up with the World Health Organisation and other international organisations to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020. In southern India, the Japanese Government supported 75 projects under its Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects scheme.

The Vice-Consul - Culture, Information and Development, Keiko Nakano, and Rotary District Governor-Elect 2005-06, Shyam Sundar, were present.

P. Janakiraman, honorary medical director, said the hospital had doubled its bed strength to 120, thanks to the grant. The hospital was spending Rs. 1,100 on every patient - from transportation to food and lodging, and surgery. The District Blindness Control Society contributes Rs. 600 for every surgery and the rest is raised through donations and contributions. For sustenance, the hospital also does about 800 paid surgeries a year and charges about Rs. 4,000 for every operation.

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