India is one of the world’s largest countries which have a very high density of blindness. Over 12 million people are blind in India, which constitutes about 1% of the total Indian population and nearly 25% of the total blindness in the world. In addition to this there are nearly 70 million people who have visual impairment. While most of this could be corrected by appropriate medical/surgical intervention subject to availability of proper medical services, it is found in practice that there is an acute shortage of appropriate infrastructure for delivery of medical services, especially to the economically marginalized section of the population. The poor are unable to access these services due to exorbitant cost and this trend is likely to get compounded in the future and reach an alarming proportion, unless some large scale initiatives are taken with commitment and dedication to correct the situation.
Rajan Eye Care Hospital based in Chennai in India is primarily a leading tertiary care eye centre, which provides a whole gamut of services in the field of ophthalmic care. The services are bench marked to world class standards. The key strength of the organization is deployment of cutting edge technology besides expertise. The hospital quality systems are accredited towards ISO 9001:2008 standards and all key processes are currently redefined to meet the stringent requirements of the NABH standards.
Established in 1995, the Chennai Vision Charitable Trust (CVCT) is a non-profit organization fully associated with Rajan Eye Care Hospital. CVCT is engaged in eradicating curable blindness in this part of the country. For more details about the activities of CVCT, please check at www.chennaivisioncharitabletrust.com. Some of the key performance indicators of CVCT during its last 16 years of service engagement are:
90,000 cataract surgeries performed free of cost
1800 free eye screening camps conducted
10 Lac patients screened free of cost
30000 free spectacles distributed
2500 corneal transplant surgeries performed
More than 50,000 donors have pledged their eyes
Chennai Vision Charitable Foundation Inc. (CVCF), New York, USA founded as an extended arm of CVCT for garnering resources for its effective functioning.
