Orbis India Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 3

From the Director’s desk

Greetings from Orbis!

It has been a wonderfully busy quarter this time especially with the full-fledged launch of

our new program, Refractive Error Among Children - REACH across various states of the

country. I wish to thank all the partners for their great effort in carrying forward this brand

new project! Together, we hope to scale more heights by reaching out to many more

children in need of eye care.

We are also glad to have hosted our CEO, Bob Ranck who got familiar with our team

and our work here in India. We were also happy to have Elise C. Lewis, Director,

Institutional Giving who visited some of our partner hospitals.

Read on for more interesting updates in this issue. Also, wishing

everyone a happy and safe Diwali.

Dr. Rahul Ali

Country Director Orbis India

Orbis and Akhand Jyoti Hospital to Set Up Bihar’s 1st Children’s Eye Center

Akhand Jyoti Eye Hospital and Orbis have launched a new initiative in Bihar to set up the state’s first

Children’s Eye Center (CEC). It is with the aim to reduce avoidable blindness and visual impairment

among rural children in the state by developing affordable, sustainable, high quality child eye care

services over the next six years. With 32 CECs set up across India with Orbis support, it would be a

delight to enhance the growth of such a vital network of dedicated CECs, which continues to remain the

largest in the world! What makes us feel even more overwhelmed is the fact that the center will be a

first in Bihar and will make eye care accessible to children across the state.

Orbis’ REACH Project Launched Countrywide

REACH, Refractive Error Among Children is a unique project that has been launched with the

generous support of Qatar Fund for Development under their larger initiative - Qatar Creating Vision.

The program has been launched across the country through our partners, namely Little Flower

Hospital, H.V. Desai Eye Hospital, Sankara Nethralaya, Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya, VMA Netra

Niramay Niketan and Aravind Eye Hospital. We are also glad to have Sightsavers on board, who have

extended the project to their network of partner hospitals in the country. The project is a result of the

need to address visual impairment due to uncorrected refractive error in children. The good news is,

with all our collective efforts, REACH will reach over three million children in three years!

Look Who Visited the Orbis India Office

This quarter, the Orbis India office hosted Bob Ranck, CEO, Orbis International, Elise C. Lewis, Director

of Institutional Giving and the Bangladesh team. During the visit Bob visited one of our partner hospitals,

Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital where Orbis has established a Quality Resource Center (QRC). Bob

also visited offices of CBM, Sightlife and Sightsavers in India. Further, Elise took deep interest in

understanding the QRC and how quality is central to the work we do. Apart from that, Elise also visited

our partner hospital, C.L. Gupta Eye Institute in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh where she had an extensive

tour of the hospital and also saw the vision van. The Bangladesh team, on the other hand, came for an

educational visit on Integrated Community Outreach Module (ICOM). Our Manager – Program

Technology, gave them a demo of the software highlighting its feasibility and time saving features when

it comes to capturing, logging and aggregating large data.

Susrut Eye Foundation Gives New Meaning to ‘Eye Care for All’

While identifying a child with visual impairment is tough in itself, it is more of a challenge to identify the

eye health issues faced by a differently-abled child. It is wonderful to know that Susrut Eye Foundation

and Research Centre, a partner hospital of Orbis, has taken a step forward towards reaching such

children with special needs. They realized that the population of differently-abled children is often not

reached through regular school screening programs and worked towards exploring ways to make the

school screening program more inclusive. The question is how are they doing that? Well, with their

collaboration with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, they will set up special screening camps at schools for the

differently-abled children, ensuring that no child is left behind.

Moradabad 17 cases

Kanpur 1 case

Kolkata 3 cases

Chennai 1 case

Calicut 3 cases

Pune 1 case

Mumbai 1 case

Surat 1 case

Cybersight Gaining Momentum Cybersight, a global

community of learning,

sharing and practice is quite

a hit in India. In fact, out of

the 113 countries, the

largest number of registrants

logged is from India.

So not only does Cybersight

have a major chunk of users

from India but it also

receives a large volume of

patient consultations.

We are extremely delighted

to know that our partner

hospitals actively use this

resource too!

When We Learned How to Save Lives – Basic Life Support Training at Orbis

Vivo, a healthcare training and education firm, conducted a one-day Basic Life Support (BLS) workshop

at the Orbis India office in September. Apart from learning about how to respond to basic emergencies

and help individuals in need, we also understood the crucial role of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

and automated external defibrillator (AED). The hands-on first responder training helped us appreciate

how we as ordinary individuals can be of help when it comes to saving someone’s life. We urge all our

partners also to take some time off their busy schedule and enrol for BLS training. You never know

when you might be needed to save lives!

‘Shikshak Samman Samaroh’- Felicitating Teachers, An Integral Part of School Screening

Teachers have always played a crucial and integral role in screening and identifying vision problems

among children. This Teacher’s Day, C.L. Gupta Eye Institute organized an event named ‘Shikshak

Samman Samaroh’ with the support of Orbis to felicitate teachers involved in the eye screening of

children. Chief Guest, Mr. Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi, District Inspector of Schools, expressed his full

support to C.L. Gupta on its initiative in schools. RSD Academy, Falay Daran Inter College and Moulana

Azad College were awarded for their outstanding support.

Stories along the

Orbis journey!

Neha encountered difficulties in her studies and was not able to play with her

friends. It was even difficult for her to answer the door as she could not identify the

visitor. Luckily, Neha was identified at a school screening camp and referred to

Sadguru Netra Chikitsalaya, an Orbis partner hospital for treatment. Here she was

diagnosed with congenital cataract and advised surgery in both eyes. Her vision

improved after the first surgery in her right eye. This improvement not only made

her happy but also motivated enough for a surgery in the other eye as well. This

intervention improved her sight immensely. When asked how she felt, she

exclaimed, “Colors look so much more brighter now, and moreover, I don’t need to

bring my book so close to my face to read it!”

Upcoming events

November 12 - 13, 2016

The Winter Conference of Delhi Ophthalmological Society at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

November 12 - 13, 2016

49th Annual Conference of Ophthalmological Society of Assam at NEIST, Jorhat

November 25 - 27, 2016

"Drishti 2016" 43rd Annual Conference of Kerala Society of Ophthalmic Surgeons at Gokulam Park Hotel &

Convention Centre, Kochi

December 1 - 3, 2016

13th ISOPT Clinical Conference, Rome

December 2 - 4, 2016

An Intercontinental Perspective of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Marriott Hotel, Jaipur

December 10 - 11, 2016

"OSOCON - 2016" 32nd Annual Conference of Odisha State Ophthalmological Society at KIMS Auditorium,

Bhubaneswar

January 14 - 20, 2017

Hawaiian Eye 2017, Koloa, Hawaii, United States

January 25 - 29, 2017

Cataract Surgery: Telling It Like It Is! Naples, Fl, United States

February 9 - 12, 2017

3rd Asia - Australia Congress on Controversies Ophthalmology 2017, Seoul, South Korea

February 10 - 12, 2017

21st European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons Winter Meeting 2017, Netherlands

February 10 - 11, 2017

The 1st International Swept Source OCT and Angiography Conference, Madrid, Spain

February 16 - 19, 2017

AIOC 75th Platinum Jubilee Annual Conference, Jaipur Exhibition & Convention Centre, Jaipur

February 23 - 26, 2017

Retina World Congress, Marriott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

March 1 - 5, 2017

32nd

Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress, Singapore

March 15 - 16, 2017

9th Global Ophthalmology Summit, London, UK

March 30 - April 1, 2017

8th World Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology 2017, Madrid, Spain

Upcoming events

India Country Office,

6th Floor, Fortune Tower II, Plot No.

406, Udyog Vihar Phase III, Gurgaon,

Haryana - 122016, India

Tel: 91-124-4284601

Fax: 91-124-4284602

Email: info.india@orbis.org

Orbis is a leading global non-governmental organization that has been a

pioneer in the prevention and treatment of blindness for over 30 years. Orbis

transforms lives by providing the skills, resources and knowledge needed to

deliver accessible quality eye care. Working in collaboration with local

partners, Orbis provides hands-on training, strengthens eye care

infrastructure and advocates for the prioritization of eye health on public

health agendas. In India, the focus is specially on children, where Orbis has

established the world’s largest network of Children’s Eye Centers: 31

centers across 17 states.

When we can see, it can be easy to take our vision for granted. But giving

vision to someone who doesn’t have it is life-changing. And we change lives!

Orbis International