Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 26, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Monday, Nov 26, 2007 ePaper |
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Tamil Nadu
LAUDABLE WORK: Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj (second from left), presenting Dr. G. Venkataswamy Memorial Award to president of Pune-based Blind People’s Association N.P. Pandya (right), at a convention at Sankara Eye Centre in Coimbatore on Sunday. Managing Trustee of the centre R.V. Ramani (left), chairman of the centre S.V. Balasubramaniam (third from left) and society president Tanuja Joshi are in the picture. COIMBATORE: The State Government is seeking more Central Government funds to pay Non-Governmental Organisations for their involvement in community healthcare projects for the poor, Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj said here on Sunday. Addressing the valedictory of the Community Ophthalmology Society of India’s convention at the Sankara Eye Centre here, he said: “Assistance to NGOs is a problem area. The Central Government provides only Rs.10 crore a year to the State. We cannot reach even 50 per cent of the target set by the Central Government in community eye care schemes,” he said. Mr. Subburaj was, however, was optimistic of a solution because the State was pursuing with the Centre an annual requirement of Rs.25 crore to make participation by NGOs more remunerative. He said Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was seized of the matter. Officials had recently met Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss in New Delhi and apprised him of arrears to the organisations mounting because of inadequate funds. “We will soon clear the arrears, pending for years, that are to be paid to the NGOs,” he told a gathering of participants from NGOs at the convention. Appreciating the efforts of these organisations in reaching targets of blindness control and cure under outreach eye care programmes, he said the State was confident of achieving the goal of Vision 20/20 by 2010 as compared to the national deadline of 2020. “At the national-level, the aim is to bring down cases of blindness to 0.3 per cent by 2020. We hope to achieve this by 2010 in Tamil Nadu,” he said. Cataract surgeriesMr. Subburaj said the Union Government had fixed five lakh cataract surgeries as the target for a year for Tamil Nadu. “We have exceeded it every year. And, the reason is that at least 3.5 lakh surgeries are done by private voluntary organisations such as the Sankara Eye Centre,” he pointed out. As much as 80 per cent of blindness was preventable through effective intervention. A book brought out by the Central Government on various diseases pointed out that while all other health problems would double by 2025, incidence of blindness would come down. NGOs should be given credit for this success, he added. Health campsAs for the Varumun Kappom healthcare project of the Government, he said 4,500 camps were held in a year, out of the target of 9,000. The entire target would be achieved in another year. The Health Secretary gave away two awards instituted by COSI for NGOs involved in community eye care. The Dr. G. Venkataswamy Memorial Award for exemplary individual contribution in community eye care in the country was given to N.P. Pandya, president of the Pune-based Blind People’s Association. It was said at the awards ceremony that Mr. Pandya lost his sight after being hit by a cricket ball while in school. Undeterred by this, he was now deeply involved in blindness control programmes. The Dr. R.K. Seth Memorial Award for excellence in community eye care for an institution went to Sadguru Seva Sangh at Chithrakoot in Uttar Pradesh.
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