Sankara Nethralaya has proposed to launch a comprehensive mobile unit to serve people living in difficult and remote terrains. The mobile unit will have four vans, two of which will be used for the purpose of surgery and the other two for conducting comprehensive eye examination and dispensing spectacles. The cost of the project is Rs.2.5 crore.
According to Rashmin Gandhi, Director, Sankara Nethralaya Academy and E Learning, the Union Health Ministry had recently granted permission for the project, which aims to screen over one lakh persons and conduct 4,000 surgeries. Dr. Gandhi announced this at the ‘Friends of Sankara Nethralaya' awards presentation function here on Saturday. He said one vehicle would be used for preparing patients for surgery and another will serve as the operation theatre. The technical input for the project has come from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras.
At the programme, patrons and well-wishers of Sankara Nethralaya shared their ideas on ways to improve service at the hospital and raise funds for other projects. Among them are new buildings for the community hospital in St. Thomas Mount here and the hospital in Kolkata, development of a corpus fund and raising money for research.
Sankara Nethralaya's Chairman Emeritus S.S. Badrinath presented mementos to the organisation's donors. Treasurer N. Sugalchand Jain and patrons Surendra M. Mehta, Ajit Chordia, Piyarelal Pithaliya and Lion Haridas felicitated Dr. Badrinath. Tarun Sharma, Director, Vitreo Retina and Fund-Raising of the hospital, made a presentation on the organisation's projects.
