The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Eye camp series completed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 13, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Eye camp series completed

Staff Reporter

This is ninth successive year of the Indo-Australian initiative

CHENNAI: Rotary Club of Madras T. Nagar has, in association with two Australian outfits, completed a series of eye, general medical and dental camps in Tiruchi, Tirunelveli and Oorapakkam.

The camps were held between February 4 and 17. The programme was organised in collaboration with Rajan Eye Care Hospital, Rotary Club of Belconen and Equal Health Organisation, Australia. A total of 10,000 patients were screened and free cataract and intra ocular lens implant surgeries were performed on 256 patients. In addition to this, 3,000 spectacles were given free of cost.

Focus on children

The special focus at the camps was treatment of problems related to children such as squint eyes, congenital cataract, corneal blindness and refractive errors.

It is estimated that approximately four to five million of the seven million children in Tamil Nadu suffer from eye problems, mainly refractive errors and corneal blindness. In the general medical camps, around 5,000 patients were screened with a special emphasis on tuberculosis.

Free medicines and drugs were distributed to more than 2,00 patients.

A special dental camp also screened about 2,000 patients and provided free medicines to 1,000 attendees.

This is the ninth successive year of the Indo-Australian initiative. To date, more than 10,000 cataract and IOL implants have been performed.

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