Prof Serge Resnikoff, international authority on public health, ophthalmology and eye health and former Head, Non Communicable Diseases Prevention and Management Unit, WHO

Dr R Pararajasegaram, former WHO Regional Adviser and Consultant and former President, International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

Prof Mala Rao, Professor, International Health, University of East London and Public Health Adviser, Administrative Staff College of India

Prof Jill Keeffe, Head, Population Health Unit, Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) and Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness at CERA

Prof Allen Foster, President, CBM and Co-director, International Centre for Eye Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Prof Hugh Taylor, Melbourne Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne and Harold Mitchell Chair of Indigenous Eye Health

Dr R Kim, Chief Consultant & Professor of Ophthalmology, Aravind Eye Hospital and Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology

Prof Kovin Naidoo, Global Programs Director, International Centre for Eyecare Education

Dr G V S Murthy, Director, Indian Institute of Public Health & South Asia Centre for Disability Inclusive Development & Research

Present especially for the occasion, Dr Y Mruthyunjay, Founding Member, Indo American Eye Care Society, recalled thinking, "He won't be able to do it ... We had great reservations about his decision," he admitted, but along with Prof Brijen Gupta

and several close friends, he extended unstinting support for the project.
Prof Brijen Gupta single-handedly set up and secured all legal clearances

Dr Pravin V Krishna

Mr Ramesh Prasad presents a cheque to Dr Rao

for the Indo American Eye Care Society to raise funds in the USA, and ran it for 25 years. In India, a charitable trust, the Hyderabad Eye Institute was created with Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Mr K P Prasad,
Dr Narla Tata Rao, Dr V Ramalingaswami and Mr K Rama Rao as founding trustees in 1985. The Government of Andhra Pradesh allocated 7.5 acres of land in Kismatpur on the outskirts of Hyderabad where the Bausch & Lomb School of Optometry and the International Centre for Advancement of
Rural Eye care are currently located.

The initial dream to set up a single hospital transformed into a much bigger vision, when Shri L V Prasad offered a significant donation and 5 acres of land in Banjara Hills. The foundation stone for the Institute was laid on October 17, 1986 and it was named after him in grateful acknowledgement. His son, Mr Ramesh-Prasad spoke of the quarter-century-old association, and renewed his father's commitment by presenting a large-hearted cheque to Dr Rao, affirming, "The Institute has brought us a lot of credit and happiness.
LVP, jai ho!"

Some early supporters acknowledged in the narrative were Mrs Pratibha Rao, Prof James Aquavella, Dr Sriram Sonty, Carl Zeiss, Bausch & Lomb,
Mr Subbarao Makineni, Mrs and Mr Steve Jenner, though the valued list of supporters and patrons includes many, many more. Present

on the occasion, Ms Katherine Dhanani, US Consul General in Hyderabad, spoke of the close ties between organizations in the US and LVPEI, while Mr David Holly, Australia's Consul General for South India, highlighted the Institute's robust research program that works in collaboration with several Australian centers.

Rehab services at KVC campus

World Sight Day celebrated in style

World Sight Day 2011 was celebrated on October 13, 2011 in style by over 400 students, staff and alumni of LVPEI's Bausch and Lomb School of Optometry (BLSO) with a walk near the KBR park area of Banjara Hills, Hyderabad.

India Vision Institute to address the
needs of 100 million Indians

India Vision Institute (IVI), a product of the partnership between the Brien Holden Vision Institute (Sydney, Australia) and L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) is an initiative to address the needs of over 100 million Indians who suffer from uncorrected refractive error. IVI was launched on October 18, 2011 in the presence of Minister of State for Human Resource Development Dr Daggubati Purandareswari and Australian Consul-General for South India Mr David Holly. IVI is co-chaired by two eminent visionaries in the blindness prevention arena: CEO of Brien Holden Vision Institute Prof Brien Holden and Chairman of LVPEI Dr Gullapalli N Rao.

IVI will serve as a platform for the development of the Indian vision care industry, supporting research, education and technological development in vision correction, eye disease and blindness prevention. Mr Vinod Daniel, CEO and managing trustee of IVI said, "IVI will develop capacity within the optometry sector in India to address the needs of uncorrected refractive error, which would save India billions of dollars of lost productivity. IVI will

Dr D Purandareswari, Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Mr David Holly, Ms K Dhanani, Prof Brien Holden and Mr Vinod Daniel at the launch

Awards and Honors

Harsha B L Rao was awarded the young researcher award at the XXI annual meeting of the Glaucoma Society of India, Mumbai. October 7-9, 2011

Sirisha Senthil received the best video award for Ahmed Glaucoma Valve (AGV) with Boston Keratoprosthesis at the XXI annual meeting of the Glaucoma Society of India, Mumbai. October 7-9, 2011

Virender S Sangwan awarded Best Original Cornea Paper of the day at 115th annual meeting of American Academy of Ophthalmology, Orlando, Fl, USA. October 22-25, 2011

Avinash Pathengay received International Scholar Plaque in recognition for outstanding research, teaching and invaluable service to patients from Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Fl, USA

FROM BHUBANESWAR CAMPUS

CME on Contact Lenses

LVPEI Bhubaneswar organized a continuous medical education (CME) for optometrists on Rose K contact lens on October 15, 2011. Prof Paul Rose, designer of the Rose K lens, was the resource person. Delegates enjoyed the hands-on training

FROM VIZAG CAMPUS

WSD programs at Vizag campus

schools in the neighboring villages over a period of 10 days. In the 4 villages covered, 545 persons were screened, while 1047 children were screened in 2 schools.

  Mohsin Eye Bank anniversary

Mohsin Eye Bank celebrated its 10th anniversary and conducted a symposium, focusing upon the present eye donation scenario in the country and

the need to improve and coordinate eye donation efforts, as well as the need for multi organ and blood donations.

'Once she can see, other development will follow'

Her head covered with tiny tight curls, little Ofure Shalom clings to her daddy's neck, lost in a world of her own. She is thousands of miles away from her mother and sister and her home in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria — coping with strange faces and unfamiliar food. Her thick glasses and an ear (cochlear) implant tug at your heartstrings.

For 2½-year-old Ofure, Hyderabad has become almost a second home. Her parents first brought her here in 2009 as a baby, seeking treatment for her opaque corneas (congenital corneal opacity) and a hole in her heart. It was a hard time when the parents discovered that newborn Ofure needed specialized care. There were no easy solutions, no simple answers…where should they go for treatment for her multiple problems? Doctors in Nigeria would not perform a corneal transplant on a baby with a heart condition.