 Arasan's Community Eye care Initiative
Arasan's quest to wipe out blindness and usher in a sense of hope to millions afflicted with eye problems led to the forming of Save Sight Foundation. This is a charitable trust formed in 1999 for community service in rural areas for eradicating curable blindness.
The foundation's objectives are:
1.To establish, develop, maintain Eye Hospital, Educational and Vocational school or Institution for world class eye care and education.
2.To engage Doctors, Paramedical staff and other skilled and technical and non technical personnal to carry out efficiently and economically the state of the art techniques in modern eye care.
3.To carry eye care treatments in rural areas through regular camps.
4.To undertake research and developmental activities related to human body especially eyes and its related organs.
SAVE SIGHT FOUNDATION's PROGRAMMES
FREE EYE CAMPS
EYE BANK
DIABETIC RETINOPATHY CAMPS
SCHOOL SCREENING CAMPS
VISION CENTRES
FREE EYE CAMPS
Community service rendered to eradicate curable blindness through reach programmes. Eight Free Eye Camps are conducted every week which covers a radius of 240km. Wide publicity is given through mike announcements on vans and publicity materials like handbills, Posters, and direction boards for poor people the reach the camps. The patients are brought from the camp places to the hospital where tests are carried out, surgeries were performed and then they were transported back to their respective places from where they were brought. The Patients are instructed to again come for post operative review after 10 days to our hospital.
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EYE BANK
Arasan Eye Bank Started in the year 2001. From 2001 till March ’06 Eye Bank collected 1489 donor corneas and Cornea clinic has performed 91 keratoplasty surgeries. Eye donation awareness has been created jointly by us and voluntary organization like Lions and Rotary. Arasan Eye Hospital conducts periodical camps educating the rural populace about the importance of donating the eyes.
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DIABETIC RETINOPATHY CAMPS
Periodically Diabetic Retinopathy camps are conducted. Till now, we have conducted 6 camps and 874 patients were screened. Out of this 45 patients were selected and advised for laser treatment in our hospital. Diabetic Retinopathy camp conducted to create awareness of the diseases of Diabetic Retinopathy and also educate the people on prevention from Diabetic Retinopathy diseases and save sight .
Highlights / statistics
- Our associate Institute Save Sight Foundation during the last 8 years till December 2005 has conducted 1554 Free Eye Camps.
- Total number of Patients Screened – 183304 as on --------
- Total number of IOL Surgeries performed – 43915 as on ------
- Arasan Eye Bank established on September 2001 has collected 1489 donor corneas till March 2006.
- Cornea clinic has performed 91 keratoplasty surgeries till March 2006.
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SCHOOL SCREENING CAMPS
Arasan regularly conducts eye camps for school children and during the year 2006, ------ children in -- schools were screened for eye defects and ----- children were found to have visual defects. ---- of these children were given glasses to correct their refractive errors.
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VISION CENTRES
The concept of vision centre is based on the global initiative - Vision 2020 – The Right to Sight, from the International Agency of Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
Arasan's vision centres aims to provide eye care for the poor and the needy population by reaching out to the grassroots.. A pioneer in rural healthcare, Arasan plans to set up at least 10 vision centres in and around Erode.
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HOW CAN I HELP?
Support, Donate & Give Sight
Your contribution towards supporting the Save Sight Foundation could be utilized in several ways: eye care services for non-paying patients in rural areas, training deserving eye care professionals, researching newer treatments or setting up new facilities at the Institute.
Supporters are patients and non-patients who make a donation that helps us provide free treatment to people from economically underprivileged backgrounds. Many of the severest forms of visual disability occur among populations who cannot afford treatment, particularly if it involves surgery and long-term medical care or rehabilitation.
Patients who are classified as supporters pay a slightly larger fee that covers the cost of their treatment as well as the treatment of a non-paying patient. Non-patients who are supporters usually donate toward a specific cause, such as a certain number of free cataract surgeries per year, or the rehabilitation of so many children per year. The donations from supporters make it possible for us to set aside fifty percent of our services for those who cannot afford to pay.
Give the gift of sight
Corneal blindness is one of the most common and also most easily treated causes of blindness. The treatment, however, depends on the availability of healthy corneas, donated by people upon their death. People who wish to donate their corneas (one person can donate two corneas, one from each eye, to effectively enable two blind persons to see) may pledge their eyes by filling out a pledge card.
Apart from pledging your own eyes, you can help the Arasan eye bank by motivating your family and close friends to do the same, and by helping such people carry through their pledge at the time of death.
Pledge your Eyes
More than 2 million Indians suffer from corneal blindness, with a transplant as their only option. You can help by pledging to give the gift of sight after death, one can ensure that somebody else will be able to see and experience the simple joys of life.
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