Community Eye Health J Indian Supplement 2008;21(67): s114

VISION 2020: The Right to Sight - INDIA

Activities July-September, 2008

The main event during the quarter was the 4th Annual General Body Meeting (AGBM) with His Excellency the former President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as the Chief Guest at Jodhpur, Rajasthan, on July 10, 2008. Dr Abdul Kalam urged the participants to focus on cataract and uncorrected refractive errors in the state of Rajasthan and also asked them to conduct an action oriented AGBM in Bihar in July 2009. The other main activities are as follows.

Elections were conducted for the first time and new board was formed for 2008-2011. The Office Bearers are:

President: Dr G V Rao, Country Director, ORBIS International India Country Office
Vice President: Dr Supriyo Ghose, Chief of R. P. Centre of Ophthalmic Sciences, AIIMS
Secretary: Dr Taraprasad Das, Director, L V Prasad Eye Institute Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Treasurer: Ms Elizabeth Kurian, Regional Director, South Asia, Sightsavers International

VISION 2020: The Right to Sight - INDIA studied the Gujarat State Plan for Blindness Control (2006-2010) on September 29th and 30th and traced the activities from the state headquarters (Gandhinagar) to the district (Bharuch) level.

The team met with Dr Pran Nagpal (President) and Ms Nandini Rawal (Treasurer) of the Gujarat Chapter of VISION 2020.
The group discussed the Plan Status (2006-2010) with Dr Pushpa Belani (Joint Director, NPCB), and visited the Gandhinagar District Hospital, and a NGO hospital (Lions Group)
The team met with an NGO - SEWA Rural (a member of VISION 2020 INDIA) at Jhagadia in Bharuch district and the ophthalmic surgeon at the District Hospital, Jhagadia. Discussions were held on how to make this district free from the backlog of cases of cataract. Looking at the current situation, in terms of workload and availability of manpower, a more creative strategy needs to be formulated.
There are 174 eye care NGOs in Gujarat and there is a good opportunity to utilize the Gujarat Chapter (Registered as a Society in 2004) to form a stronger, public private partnership.
The key achievements are the availability of “branded” equipment at the district hospitals and a good Hospital Management Information System.

It was also decided to hold the next World Sight Day Celebrations on 8th October in Pune and an orientation programme for the new board on 9th at the same place.

Breaking news!

VISION 2020 INDIA achieves a major breaktrhough in gaining government commitment to blindness prevention!

Cabinet Committee for Economic Affairs (CCEA) approves Rs 1250 Crores (approximately US$275 million) for the 11th Five Year Plan under the National Program for Control of Blindness (NPCB)
VISION 2020 INDIA had advocated for moving beyond a Cataract-Centric National Programme to include comprehensive Eye Care, specifi cally, Diabetic Retinopathy, Glaucoma, Keratoplasty and Childhood Blindness.