Sankara Eye Foundation gets 'Legendary Institution for Community Ophthalmology' recognition

Bengaluru: Sankara Eye Foundation India, the not for profit organization, committed to providing quality eye care to the marginalized sections of the society has been recognized as the 'Legendary Institution for Community Ophthalmology' by the Rotary Avoidable Blindness Foundation at the first national conference on community ophthalmology held recently. The award was presented to Dr R.V. Ramani, Founder and Managing Trustee of Sankara Eye Foundation, by Rotary International Director, PRID Rtn. Dr. Manoj Desai.

Rotary Avoidable Blindness Foundation's vision is to provide the much-needed eye care at very low rate or free of cost to the needy across the country, thereby helping in eradicating curable blindness in India. India is known as the blindness capital of the world with nearly 12 million blind people in the country. Interestingly, India has the biggest eye care infrastructure in the world, driven mainly by community ophthalmology. Over six million cataract surgeries are being done every year with more than 60% of them through NGOs like Sankara Eye Foundation.

On receiving the award, Dr Ramani said, "To be recognized as the Legendary Institution for Community Ophthalmology in the country is a motivation for us to continue pursuing our endeavour in providing world-class treatment to all patients cutting across economic and social disparities. We practice the 80:20 model, wherein 80% of the beneficiaries are the rural poor who receive totally free eye care whereas the rest of the 20% are the affordable section of the society, who pay for their treatment, thereby making the institution self-sustaining. Through our "Gift of Vision" initiative, we have so far conducted over 2.0 million free eye surgeries and screened over 5.5 million people for better visual outcomes".

Sankara Eye Foundation constantly monitors and evaluates its performance to ensure that everyone gets unmatched treatment without compromising on quality care. Through the 'Gift of Vision' program supported by Rotary International, the eye-care service provider ensures high quality, cost effective, readily available eye care treatment at the doorstep of rural India.