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Children's Eye Care Centre celebrates 10th anniversary
The Institute commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Jasti V Ramanamma Children's Eye Care Centre with a seminar 'Eye on the Future' - a scientific symposium on 'Eye Health and Eye Disorders of Children', December 1-2, 2007. The comprehensive program covered all aspects of children's eye health. A Live Surgical Workshop was conducted the day before the seminar, while the second day was dedicated to strabismus.
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World Diabetes Day program
World Diabetes Day was commemorated on November 14, 2007, at Ongole in collaboration with the Prakasam district administration, Government of Andhra Pradesh, as part of LVPEI’s diabetes prevention initiative. A public rally was inaugurated by Joint Collector Mr Dinakar
Babu, along with other district officials Dr Sonar Babu, District Medical and Health Officer; Dr Durga
Prasad, district community health services; and Mr Malligarjuna Shastry, District Educational Officer. Over 1000 people including schoolchildren, self-help group members, NGOs and nursing college students participated in the rally, along with the LVPEI team. Read full report...
World Diabetes Day Program at LVPEI satellites
AAO award for Raja Narayanan
Dr Raja Narayanan has received the International Ophthalmologist Education Award at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting at New Orleans, USA, November 10-13, 2007. The award recognizes international Academy members who pursue lifelong education in ophthalmology.
Pisart Vision Award for Dr Rao
Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Distinguished Chair of Eye Health, L V Prasad Eye Institute, India, has been awarded the 2007 Pisart Vision Award for being an outstanding humanitarian and a respected ophthalmologist. Dr Tara
Cortes, RN, PhD and President and CEO of Lighthouse International, said, “We are very honored to recognize Dr Rao for his outstanding commitment and contribution to the field of vision health care.” The award was presented to Dr Rao on November 15, 2007, at Lighthouse International headquarters in New York, USA.
Dr Rao is President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and has played a key role in the international eye care campaign ‘VISION 2020: The Right to Sight’ to eliminate avoidable blindness and low vision by the year 2020. He has delivered high quality, low cost, sustainable eye care in India and made significant contributions to the understanding of ocular inflammation and the development of new methods of visual correction. He pioneered a generation of studies on the human corneal endothelium and the importance of its functional reserve in corneal health. The Pisart Award is partially funded by Mme Georgette
Pisart, a longtime Lighthouse volunteer, and carries a prize of $40,000 and a replica of the Pisart sculpture.
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Honor for Soumyava Basu
Dr Soumyava Basu, Consultant, Retina Vitreous Services at LVPEI Bhubaneswar, has received the Dr KR Dutta award for best free paper presented at the Eastern India Zonal Ophthalmic Congress
(EIZOC) at Dhanbad (November 3-4, 2007) for his paper on 'Indications and surgical outcome of 62 consecutive cases of 23 gauge transconjuctival vitrectomy'.
Community screening program at Nellore
As part of the collaborative community eye health initiative between L V Prasad Eye Institute and Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd., a ‘Save the Eye’ community eye screening program was conducted at Nellore on November 18, 2007. A total of 614 people were screened, of these 282 were prescribed and given spectacles free of cost. A total of 233 persons were diagnosed with cataract and other eye ailments and referred to LVPEI’s satellite centre ‘Swarna Bharat Eye Centre’ at
Venkatachalam, Nellore. Medicines were distributed to 300 people free of cost.
LVPEI-NTPC centres inauguration
On October 10, 2007, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar, opened three new centers, namely the Centre for Diabetic Eye Diseases, Eye Trauma Centre and Sight Enhancement and Rehabilitation
Centre, with the generous support of the National Thermal Power Corporation
(NTPC). Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, Union Minister for Power, inaugurated the centers. Mr Naveen
Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa, was the Chief Guest. The other dignitaries present were Mr Duryodhan
Majhi, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Orissa, Mr T
Sankarlingam, CMD, NTPC, Mr Somnath Banerjee, ED, NTPC (Kaniha), Dr Gullapalli N
Rao, Chairman, LVPEI, and Mr L I Parija, Chairman, LVPEI, Bhubaneswar Board.
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National Seminar on ‘Vision for Children’
This year the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) dedicated World Sight Day to ‘Vision for Children’. The National Programme for the Control of Blindness
(NPCB), Government of India, and VISION 2020: The Right to Sight – India commemorated World Sight Day 2007 by conducting a symposium on ‘Vision for Children’ on October 10, 2007, at L V Prasad Eye Institute,
Bhubaneswar.
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9th anniversary of LVPEI's 2nd satellite center
LVPEI’s second satellite centre, Sri Kuchukalla Ramachandra Reddy Eye Centre (KRREC) in
Toodukurthy, (Mahabubnagar district, Andhra Pradesh) celebrated its ninth anniversary on October 24, 2007. Since its establishment on October 24, 1998, the centre has screened 1,00,000 outpatients and performed around 13,000 surgeries. It has a full complement of 10 Vision Centres attached to it, thus providing quality eye care to a catchment population of approximately 500,000 – 1 million people.
Among those present at the anniversary program were Toodukurthy village sarpanch Mr Narsimha Reddy, Village Secretary Mr Bhaskar Reddy, and Gram Panchayat Secretary Mr Bal Reddy, among others. Mr
Natraj, Administrator of the centre, outlined the performance of the centre and how it has reached out to more patients, through community eye care programs, Vision Centres’ activities, NTR trust activities, etc. The ‘Best Employee of the Year’ award was presented by Mr
Surendra, Chief Technology Officer, LVPEI, to Mr Anjaneyulu, OR technician. Gifts for other sports activities were distributed by Dr Monica
Bhalla, Sarpanch, and LVPEI staff.
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Dr Rustom D Ranji Rotary Award Lecture
The Dr Rustom D Ranji Rotary Award Lecture 2007 was delivered on October 24, 2007, by Dr P
Namperumalsamy, Chairman, Aravind Eyecare System, Madurai. Dr Rustom D Ranji, Honorary Ophthalmologist to the former Nizam of Hyderabad, was associated with several charitable institutions, particularly the Institute for the Blind. The Rotary Club of Hyderabad Dist 3150 set up a corpus fund at L V Prasad Eye Institute in 1997-98, and continues to sponsor an annual lecture in Dr Rustom Ranji’s memory.
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World Sight Day 2007
A three-day event commemorating World Sight Day 2007 was inaugurated by upcoming Telugu film star Navadeep at PRASADS IMAX, Hyderabad, on October 11, 2007. Setting an example for all his fans, Navadeep signed an eye donation pledge card, promising to motivate his family and friends also to make a similar commitment. The program, organized by L V Prasad Eye Institute
(LVPEI) is part of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight program, WHO’s global initiative against avoidable blindness. Present on the occasion were Mr Ramesh
Prasad, Managing Director, Prasad Media Corporation Ltd.; Mr Ashish Vohra, EVP & Head of Commercial Mass Market, Fullerton India Credit Company Ltd.
(FICCL); Dr V S Sangwan, Dr Somasheila Murthy and staff members from LVPEI.
Speaking on the occasion Mr Ramesh Prasad said, “The Prasad family is always pleased to be associated with LVPEI in its drive to increase public awareness about eye care and eye diseases”. Mr Vohra said, “It has been our corporate social responsibility to spread awareness about eye diseases and to assist LVPEI in its effort to eradicate avoidable blindness in the country.” The event was supported by FICCL and Prasad Media.
Mr Prasad released an educational book ‘A health teaching book for primary schools,’ developed by the International Centre for Eye Health, UK, and distributed by Sight and Life in India. Some schoolchildren in the audience asked pertinent questions about general eye care, which were answered by Dr
Murthy.
The event included a poster gallery on eye diseases and eye health, display and sale of low vision devices, demo of special software for the visually impaired, an eye donation information center, and sale of greeting cards designed by visually challenged children. Free vision screening was done for hundreds of visitors, while many people pledged to donate their eyes.
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World Sight Day Program at our satellite centres
World Sight Day was commemorated on October 11, 2007, at three LVPEI satellite
centres. Awareness programs, rallies, public meetings and gatherings marked the occasion. Local doctors, NGOs, village leaders and others attended the meetings and addressed the people.
Bhosle Gopal Rao Patel Eye Centre, Mudhol, Adilabad district
The centre organized a screening camp after a public meeting at Bhainsa. Of the 190 people screened, 101 were prescribed glasses and 32 referred to the center for further management. Notable amongst those who participated were Municipal Chairman & Commissioner of Bhainsa town, Market Committee Chairman & Wakf Board Chairman Dr Damodhar Reddy, and office-bearers of the local Lions Club. The Mudhol Service Centre administrator and a team of vision technicians and field staff were also present.
Seshanna Chennawar Eye Centre, Adilabad
The Seshanna Chennawar Eye Centre organized an Awareness Rally with the support of Upadhi Labs. Dr Reddy’s Foundation is implementing the Urban Program for Advancement of Household Income
(UPADHI) program in Adilabad district. In this program 300 unemployed youth are under training. About 300 students participated in the rally to increase general awareness about eye diseases and eye donation. The UPADHI staff extended their support in organizing the rally.
After the rally an eye screening camp was conducted in the UPADHI Labs premises; all the students and staff participated and had their eyes tested. Service Centre ophthalmologist Dr Virender
Sachdev, the administrator and other staff participated in the program, which was also telecast by local television channels. The total number of persons screened was 150, of which 19 were prescribed glasses and 11 referred to the
centre.
Kuchukulla Ramachandra Reddy Eye Centre, Thoodukurthy
Local leaders including the village sarpanch and
vice-sarpanch of Kalwakolly village, the Kuchukulla Ramachandra Reddy Eye Centre vision technician, and other field staff attended the public awareness program and screening camp. Of the 82 persons screened, 21 were prescribed glasses and 15 referred to the center.
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First DNA chip for diagnosing eye infections launched
L V Prasad Eye Institute was a proud partner in the New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative
(NMITLI) program for developing the world’s first DNA chip for the diagnosis of eye infections. The project was chaired by Dr D
Balasubramanian, Director of Research, LVPEI, and included Dr Savitri Sharma Das and Mr Roby J Jose from Jhaveri Microbiology Laboratory,
LVPEI. Sankar Nethralaya, Chennai; All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, also participated in this initiative, under the aegis of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR), Government of India.
Three chips (Keratoconjunctivits, Retinitis and
Uveitis) for detecting various bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites causing eye infections have been developed. The product was launched on September 22, 2007, at
Bangalore, where all the scientists involved in the project were felicitated by Dr T
Ramasamy, Director General of CSIR. This diagnostic DNA chip for ocular infections is the first in the world and has potential use for diseases other than the eye. Xcyton Diagnostics Limited,
Bangalore, developed the chip for commercial distribution.
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Education Day celebrations
The Institute’s fourth Education Day was celebrated on the evening of 1st October 2007, with an auditorium full of students and anxious parents. Dr G
Chandrasekhar, Director, LVPEI, Hyderabad, welcomed the guests. Prof Coen de
Jong, principal, Bausch & Lomb School of Optometry (LVPEI, Kismatpur campus), gave an update on the school’s activities. Prof V S
Rao, Director, off-campus programs and Director designate of Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS –
Pilani), Hyderabad campus, presented the degree certificates to 20 Bachelor of Science optometry students. Three students who completed their diploma program received Diploma in Optometry (DOT) certificates from
FOREC, New Delhi.
Dr Prashant Garg, Director of Education, spoke of the Institute’s training activities and read out the names of 10 outgoing ophthalmology fellows, who received their fellowship certificates from the chief guest Prof Barry Colin, former Dean at the School of Optometry, University of New South Wales, Australia. Among the individual awards were the Dr G N Rao Award for Best Ophthalmology Fellow to Dr Hemant
Trehan, best Optometry Fellow award to Ms Prajakta Prabhavalkar, and best Ophthalmic Nursing assistants
(ONA) trainee award to Ms Keertimayee Rauth. All three received citations and special awards from Carl
Zeiss. In a welcome break from tradition, outgoing ophthalmology fellow Dr Saumil Sheth had the audience in splits with a tongue-in-cheek presentation on life as a fellow at
LVPEI.
Prof Barry Collin delivered the Education Day address on ‘What is the future of optometry & optometrists’.
The evening ended with a dinner for all the students, families, and guests.
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Raghavachary award for Rishi Swarup
Dr Rishi Swarup received the Raghavachary award for Best Paper in the Dr Raghavachary Free Paper Session at the Andhra Pradesh Ophthalmic Society
(APOS) and the Ophthalmic Association of Southern Indian States (OASIS) Conference held in Tirupati between September 28 – 30, 2007. The title of the paper was ‘Outcome of ipsilateral ex-vivo cultivated limbal epithelial transplantations for partial limbal stem cell deficiency’.
Syamala Bhaskaran Endowment Lecture
The Eleventh Dr C Syamala Bhaskaran Endowment Lecture was held on Monday September 24, 2007, at the Patodia auditorium of L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad. This year’s guest speaker Dr Baruch D
Kuppermann, Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, USA, spoke on age-related macular degeneration. His talk was of great interest to all those present as he also spoke of new treatment strategies and AMD management and the series of research initiatives that uses newer methods and medicines in collaboration with pharmaceuticals at the forefront of health care. The audience mainly consisted of ophthalmologists and other eye care professionals. Dr Syamala Bhaskaran and Dr C S
Bhaskaran, along with Dr G Chandrasekhar, presented the Oration Award to Prof
Kuppermann.
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Fullerton – LVPEI MoU on community eye health services
Fullerton India Credit Company Limited (FICCL) signed an MoU with L V Prasad Eye Institute on September 13, 2007, as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative. As per the
MoU, LVPEI will conduct ‘Save the Eye’ community screening programs in collaboration with its partner hospitals in Andhra Pradesh and India in association with Fullerton India.
As another step in this partnership, LVPEI and Fullerton conducted a community screening program
(CSP) at Miryalguda, Nalgonda district, on September 9, 2007. The screening program was conducted in collaboration with Lions Club of Suryapet Eye Hospital,
Jammigadda, Suryapet, Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh. A total of 477 people were screened; 205 were given free spectacles and 126 were given free medicines. The 201 people diagnosed with cataract and other eye problems were referred to Lions Club of Suryapet Eye Hospital and
LVPEI, Hyderabad, for further treatment/surgical management. This is the third CSP conducted by LVPEI and Fullerton India.
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ISCEV Programme - 2007
Workshop on Visual Electrophysiology
A Hands-on Workshop on Visual Electrophysiology was conducted at LVPEI, Hyderabad, on August 24-25, 2007, with 87 registered participants. The workshop included lectures and practical and hands-on experience in visual
electrophysiology. Seven faculty members from five countries shared their expertise with the delegates in 17 didactic lectures. Eight manufacturers set up equipment stalls for use during the course.
The cultural program included a glimpse into the growth of
LVPEI, an introduction to 2000-year-old Indian Buddhist architecture, a glimpse into Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's poetic life and a folk dance recital. The evening ended with a Kashmiri food festival.
International symposium on electrophysiology of vision
The XLV annual symposium of the International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision
(ISCEV) was held from August 25-29, 2007, at the Taj Krishna and hosted by
LVPEI. A total of 237 participants interacted during the meeting. There were 188 scientific delegates from 24 countries across 5 continents, who attended the scientific sessions. The program included high quality 55 oral presentations, 3 keynote addresses, 39 posters and an award lecture. The trade exhibition had 15 trade display counters of major international electrophysiology equipment manufacturers.
The inaugural of the main ISCEV symposium had a traditional Kuchipudi dance program, followed by a Bollywood
filmi-style dance. The day-long intense scientific sessions were offset by fun and revelry in the evenings, including vignettes of Indian culture, tradition and cuisine. The ISCEV Olympics comprised the vigorous ‘kho-kho’, a high-pitched conch blowing competition, and sari (ladies) and dhoti (gentlemen) tying contests. A visit to the Ramoji Film City, the Golconda fort, Gandipet Lake, a ‘holi’ playing session and a dance ballet performance were other highlights. A grand gala dinner brought the curtain down on a very satisfying week of hard scientific sessions coupled with evenings full of warmth and fun.
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