Introduction

Blindness has a very significant negative impact on a person’s self-esteem and on their ability to make a meaningful economic contribution. Approximately 19 million people in India today are blind, most of them trapped in poverty. Yet, in eight out of ten cases, blindness can be prevented or treated with proven, cost effective interventions. In addition, 180 million Indians need service for refractive errors — treatable vision problems that can generally be addressed by corrective lenses.

These eye care problems are due to the lack of sufficient ophthalmologists, eye hospitals, and trained medical and paramedical personnel. This lack of awareness about eye problems is more severe in the rural areas which are home to nearly 70% of India’s population.

The Srikiran Institute of Ophthalmology

Opened in 1993, the Srikiran Institute provides outpatient services to 750 people a day and performs about 80 surgeries daily. The Institute provides eye care irrespective of financial means, with no patient denied treatment for not being able to pay.

During the last 30 years the Srikiran Institute has provided quality eye care services to more than 4 million people from four districts of Andhra Pradesh, with 65% of these services being provided free to the poor. The Institute has also restored eyesight to more than 350,000 blind people through cataract surgeries, with 90% of these surgeries provided free of cost to poor and needy clients.

Today, the Srikiran Institute of Ophthalmology is one of India’s biggest networks of eye hospitals, with one tertiary eye care centre, four secondary surgical centres and ten primary eye care centres, serving a population of approximately 10 million people.

The Srikiran Institute’s achievements were made possible through community support, and philanthropic and corporate donations.

Major Contributors from Canada

In 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired a one-hour documentary, called “A Ray of Light”. It was seen by many Canadians from St. John’s to Vancouver Island. This led to a greater awareness among Canadians about the work being done, and resulted an increase in the donations. In addition, several volunteers, ophthalmologists, nurses, teachers, and others helped the Foundation and its activities to move forward.

In the earlier years the Srikiran Institute was established firmly by various projects from “Help The Aged Canada” and “Canadian International Development Agency”.

The University of Ottawa Eye Institute also played a significant role in establishing the quality standards of the eye care services. In this process many ophthalmologists, nursing superintendents and technicians have visited Kakinada and contributed to improving the quality of services. In return, we have helped many young ophthalmologists from Canada learn a new technique, called “Small Incision Cataract Surgery”.

We would also like to thank Dr. Marie Louise Lapointe from the University of Ottawa – Eye Institute. In 2015, Dr. Lapointe was conferred with the MSMF Humanitarian award for her voluntary services.