Mr R D Sriram ,Head R&D < aurolab industries was invited to interact with our postgraduates. He gave a talk on Intraocular manufacture and quality control procedures and other safeguards in place in the industry

As a continuation of our Bharatiyam project to reach out to other parts of the country a surgical camp was organised with the Kanchi Sankara Hospital,at Madhubani in Bihar. 220 surgeries were performed with intraocular lens implants in all helping the rural poor in Bihar receive the Gift of Vision.

The hospital conducted surgical camps at Goa and in the state of Andrapradesh to serve the rural poor in these states. At Goa 93 patients were operated on between 21st and 24th February. In association with the Aim for Seva movement, deserving rural poor from the region and tribal hamlets around Kothegudem, Andrapradesh were screened for curable blindness. 243 patients benefited from the surgical care between 5th and 9th April.

As a part of HH Shri Jayendra Saraswati, Sankaracharya of Kanchi's Peetarohana Swarna Jayanthi Celebrations, recongnition to our Managing Trustee, Dr R V Ramani in the field of social service. Visit our exhibit at Naradhagana Sabha on 23rd march at the SriMutt, Kancheepuram.

Continuing medical education programme – Ms Padmaja, Essilor Bangalore. Topics covered pertained to various facets of optical manufacture and dispensing.

• Ophthalmic lens materials like CR, Polycarbonate etc.
  
• Materials for coatings and benefits of hard coating and HMC ( AR coating)
  
• Essilor Products – Finished range of lenses and processed range of lenses
  
• Dispensing presentations ( work shop on PD marking and PAL trouble shooting )
  

The Swarna Jayanthi Peetarohana celebrations of HH Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, Sankarachrya of Kanchi was held at our hospital on the 29th of April,2003.

Invocation to the Lord was followed by traditional obeisance to the two Acharyas HH Sri Jayendra Saraswathi and HH Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi;and HH Swami Dayananda Saraswathi of the Anaikatti Ashram.

The chance to break free from spectacles and lenses is something that is enticing for any one who has used these for fairly long. So when Sankara Eye Centre at Coimbatore sought to bring such technology to the people of Coimbatore, it was only apt that this facility be dedicated to the Acharya.The centre was inaugurated by Shri Muruganandam IAS,Collector Coimbatore Dist.The centre has been named the "Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Refractive Surgery Centre"

We at Sankara are proud to have developed a new design for the intraocular lens-"Clearoptix". The radical design has been proved to be better than those existing and we are now applying for a patent for this design.

Sankara has been synonymous with community care and true to this we have embarked on an ambitious project "Siruthuli" where we hope to reclaim the various lakes around Coimbatore City to help increase the ground water. An ambitious project for the 50th anniversary of the Peetarohana of HH Sri Jayendra Saraswati.

Peetarohana oration by Swami Dayananda Saraswathi was laced with characteristic humour and interesting anecdotes. His Holiness Swami Jayendra Saraswathi dwelt on the need for chiefs of mathams, not only to discharge dharmic duties, but also involve themselves in social causes that made a difference in the lives of the common man. H. H. Swami Vijayendra Saraswathi extolled the work being done at the Sankara Eye Centre as unparalleled practically anywhere in the country and attributed it to the leadership of the Centre and the team work of the constituents.

Life in darkness is the cruelest thing that can happen to any individual. Irrespective of the age blindness takes its toll. The surgeons at Sankara have been operating on children afflicted with various ailments as young as a few months old. To further the skills of the surgeons at Sankara,we in association with ORBIS International organised a fortnight long programme.

Dr Judy Newman, consultant paediatric ophthalmologist from Texas, USA with over two decades experience in the field of paediatric ophthalmology and squint surgery trained the surgeons and optometrists of Sankara to perform intricate corrective procedures on children.


In a dinner meet on 14th may 2003 attended by leading ophthalmologists from in and around Coimbatore, Dr Newman addressed the delegates on Paediatric Cataract Management and on Refraction in Children.

Dr R V Ramani, Managing Trustee, Sankara Eye Centre was invited as a guest faculty at "CRAFT - Cornea Reecent Advances and Future Trends",Trivandrum where he addressed the gathering on the recent trends in eye donation.

Dr R V Ramani and Dr J K Reddy, were invited to address the 14th conference of the Telugu Association of North America in California,USA. They raised awareness on our vision of 20/20 for all by 2020.

Sri Venkaiah Naidu has visted the Sankara Eye Foundation booth at TANA 2003, and appreciated their pioneering work in the area of community Eye care.

In a message to the community asking for help he said: "Sankara Eye Foundation is a very disciplined and devoted organization. They have been doing good work in Coimbatore, providing free community eye care. They are expanding their free services to Andhra Pradesh, and coming up with an eye hospital near Guntur.

It is a very noble cause. Every one should encourage such efforts. Of all kinds of donations. 'donation for vision' is most important. I urge all the people, particularly the Telugu community to support the cause of setting up this free eye care institute. The institute benefits the people of Andhra Pradesh for generations to come.

An evening where music was soothing the heart and the cause was to help the underpriviledged with visual defects see. Karthick, Srinivas and Harish Raghavendra entertained an audience of around 4000 at the Carmel Garden school grounds for over 3 hours. The programme was hosted by the Rotary Club of Coimbatore Metropolis.

The South Regional Ophthalmic Conference at Chennai saw leading practitioners and institutions from all the southern states as well as from other parts of the nation. Dr R V Ramani was a faculty for the session on community ophthalmology.Dr S Balasubramanian was a faculty on the session on Eye Banking.Dr J K Reddy was invited to speak on paediatric cataract management and on how to make small incision cataract surgery made easy.

Apart from them 3 other doctors presented papers on various topics and posters on intersting cases.

Vision is the gift of God for all to behold. It is sad that 13 million Indians are blind and 80% of them due to preventable or curable causes.

To increase awareness on eye diseases and treatment, the second Thursday of October is celebrated as the, “World Sight Day’.

Sankara organized an interactive expo where around 425 students from 5 educational institutions participated. A screening of autorikshaw drivers was also done. Dr T Mohana Kumar from the Washington University School of Medicine addressed our doctors on Transplantation techniques – the evolution and present trends.

Vision is the gift of God for all to behold. It is sad that 13 million Indians are blind and 80% of them due to preventable or curable causes.

To increase awareness on eye diseases and treatment, the second Thursday of October is celebrated as the, “World Sight Day’.

Sankara organized an interactive expo where around 425 students from 5 educational institutions participated. A screening of autorikshaw drivers was also done. Dr T Mohana Kumar from the Washington University School of Medicine addressed our doctors on Transplantation techniques – the evolution and present trends.

An interactive day long conitnuing medical programme was organised at the hospital covering medical statistics, IOL design & maufacturing techniques, small incision cataract surgery and recent trends in ophthalmology. Faculty were invited from all over southern India from 4 institutions.

At the 22nd Karnataka Ophthalmic Society, Annual State Conference,held between 7th and 9th Nov, at Belgaum,the institution was well represented with videos, posters and papers in paediatric ophthalmology, cornea,occuloplasty and community ophthalmology.

To celebrate childrens day the paediatric ophthalmology department screened children at the observation home for juvenile delinquents. It was our way of telling these children that they are wanted and that people do care for them.

The commisioner of police, Coimbatore, Mr Sanjay Arora, IPS was the special guest.Those found to have defective vision were advised necessary treatment.

In the global workshop to plan policy for future childhood blindness programmes organised by Sight Savers, International, Dr R V Ramani was invited as faculty and spoke on, “How to run school (and pre-school) eye health programmes and build linkages between governmental and nongovernmental agencies.”

A 2 day interactive workshop of the member institutions of the Federation of Hindu Mission Health Services was organized. The first half was hosted at Sankara Eye Centre where deliberations were held on preferred practice patterns, fund raising for charity and self audit. An interactive session towards team building was organized.


Delegates then proceeded to Kenchanahalli for the second leg, hosted by the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement.

At Sankara we appreciate the service rendered by various cadres of our employees in making our institution a premier community service organization. All those who have worked for more than 5 years are recognised.

This year the staff and family members of our staff organized a variety entertainment programme and Mr J M Chanrai presided over the function.