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Orbis India Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 3
Orbis India Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 3
From the Director’s Desk
Greetings from Orbis!
It has been a very busy quarter at Orbis India.
The launch of our new program REACH - Refractive Error Among Children across the country has
added new members to our team and allowed us to build on the work we have already done under
the India Childhood Blindness Initiative. We are grateful to Qatar Creating Vision, a joint initiative of
the Qatar Development Fund and Orbis currently supporting work in India and Bangladesh, for
providing this opportunity to ‘reach’ out to the children of our country.
Support also came in from GE Aviation as a team of volunteers participated in an eye screening
camp in Chennai in collaboration with the team from Elite School of Optometry.
As always, we are very happy when we have visitors and this quarter we had two teams visiting us. A
group of school students and Orbis colleagues from the UK visited India for a study tour; thank you to
the H.V. Desai Eye Hospital, Pune for hosting them. And our colleagues from China brought a team
of senior ophthalmic professionals to visit many of our partners where they came
across a wealth of ideas to further the cause of ‘Eye Care for All’.
Read about these and more in this issue.
Dr. Rahul Ali
Country Director - India Orbis International
Our new Flying Eye Hospital took flight
The third generation Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, MD-10, is here! We extend our gratitude to FedEx and all
the other donors for such generous support. It is the world’s only mobile ophthalmic teaching hospital in
a plane. The aircraft has been custom designed to provide the best medical training and technology
throughout the world. The new MD-10 was unveiled on June 2 along with a retirement party for the DC-
10 plane which was attended by many FEH alumni and guests. The aircraft took flight from Los Angeles
on June 4 after which it flew to five additional U.S. locations, namely, New York, Washington D.C,
Memphis, Texas and Sacramento. The Flying Eye Hospital will then depart to Asia to conduct its
inaugural program in Shenyang, China this September.
Nearly 600 from across the country attend VISION 2020’s Annual Conference
The two-day 12th Annual Conference of VISION 2020: The Right to Sight India – “Eye Care for All” saw
an overwhelming attendance of close to six hundred participants. From senior State and Central
health ministry officials, heads of eye hospitals, policymakers to the backbone of eye hospitals like
ophthalmologists, optometrists, and others, participants packed the halls. There were 22 sessions in
five tracks spread across June 04 and 05. Orbis representatives Aditi Modi presented on ‘School Vision
Screening Program: Refractive Errors and Beyond’ and Arnab Sarkar presented on ‘Barriers For
Conducting Outreach Activities and its Management (Pediatric).’ A highlight of the event was an
interactive session with Joint Secretary, Ms. Dharitri Panda and DDG(O), Dr. Promila Gupta. Ms.
Panda lauded Vision 2020 for organizing a conference that brought together participants from across
the country to discuss practical issues related to eye health.
Orbis awarded champion for vision for dedication to children’s eye health
Orbis was recognized as a Champion for Vision at the annual American Association for Pediatric
Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS) meeting in Vancouver, Canada. On behalf of Orbis, Ms.
Danielle Bogert, Director of Global Faculty Relations and Clinical Services, accepted the award. It was
given jointly by the Children’s Eye Foundation and AAPOS to celebrate extraordinary efforts in
championing children’s vision. AAPOS President Dr. M. Edward Wilson praised Orbis for its dedication
and commitment to children’s eye health.
GE Aviation team spent a day with us screening and engaging school children
Leaders from GE Aviation participated in a school screening program organized by Orbis and Elite
School of Optometry, Sankara Nethralaya. While one team of volunteers supported the hospital staff in
screening children, another team entered the screening data real-time into the hospital’s software. But
the favorite among the students were the two teams which conducted science experiments using light
and made optical instruments such as kaleidoscopes and gifted them to students. The interest and
enthusiasm of the GE Aviation team was remarkable. Neither the scorching heat nor the beads of sweat
dampened their spirits.
Arunachal Pradesh state action plan ready for implementation
In a one-day meeting on April 22, 2016 at Itanagar, the final State Action Plan for the Prevention of
Avoidable Blindness and Visual Impairment in Arunachal Pradesh was developed and is now ready for
implementation. The process for this was started during November 2015 when VISION 2020 INDIA
conducted a Situation Analysis in Changlang and Lower Subansiri districts of Arunachal Pradesh. The
active involvement of Dr. Taba Khanna, SPO Arunachal Pradesh throughout the process added much-
needed context and efficiency. Government officials of Arunachal Pradesh [Commissioner Health, Joint
Secretary-Ministry of HFW, Joint Director-Medical Education, Nodal Officer-CM Health Insurance
Scheme, Director Health Services] also took an active part in both the situational analysis and the
formulation of the state plan. Kudos to VISION 2020 INDIA on this achievement!
Senior team of ophthalmic professionals from China visits Orbis India
A senior team of ophthalmic professionals from Orbis partner institutions in China visited India to learn
more about eye care delivery and management in the country. This 15-member team included 13
partner representatives and two colleagues from the Orbis China Office. During the 10-day tour, the
team visited some of our partners across the country, namely, Aravind Eye Care System in Madurai,
Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai, Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital in New Delhi and Sadguru Netra
Chikitsalaya in Chitrakoot. The team from China was amazed at the variety of methods implemented by
our partners to train staff and volunteers, as well as planning, managing and delivering eye care
services. They took back a wealth of ideas which they believe will help them serve the cause of eye
care better.
Orbis India family is growing
The Orbis India family is growing as we have eight new team members. Manmeet Singh has joined us
as Senior Program Manager; Abhishek Kumar Jha, Madhav Anand and Shafali Bhagat as Program
Managers; Rahul Kumar is our Manager - Program Technology; Komal Arora our Finance Manager;
Annu Choudhury our Communications Officer and Nitasha Arora our Executive Assistant. Please join
us in welcoming all of them!
H.V. Desai Eye Hospital hosts team of students from UK
Five high school students from ACS International School, UK and Doha along with two members of the
Orbis UK team made a visit to the Orbis country program as part of a journalism initiative sponsored by
their school. Hosted by H.V. Desai Eye Hospital in Pune, the team had an enriching experience as they
took a detailed tour of the hospital among other activities. They visited a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
(NICU) to witness Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) screening, a Diabetic Hospital for Diabetic
Retinopathy screening and saw how the Panchgani Vision Center functioned. The students also
participated in a school screening that was conducted by the Vision Center. Other visits on their
agenda included a tour of a school for blind and the Operation Theatre Complex where they viewed a
couple of surgeries from the gallery.
Stories along the Orbis journey!
Alka, a sixth-grade student at a school for blind, found liberty
when her vision was restored. Poor vision due to Congenital
Cataract troubled the 10-year-old for a good six years until
C.L. Gupta Eye Institute, an Orbis partner hospital, identified
her, conducted surgery and restored her vision. Today, Alka is
happy that she is not only independent but can also help her
loving mother with household chores.
Upcoming events
August 08, 2016
Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS) at the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS), San Francisco,
California
August 13 – 15, 2016
In-Optics 2016 "Optical Trade Fair & Exhibition” at Milan Mela, Kolkata
August 13 – 15, 2016
"ISCKRS Meet 2016" Annual Conference of Indian Society of Cornea & Keratorefractive Surgeons at India Habitat
Center, New Delhi
August 25 – 26, 2016
4th COECSA Annual Scientific Conference, Ngurdoto Mountain in Arusha, Tanzania
September 03 – 04, 2016
"WCOA-2016" 4th World Congress of Ophthalmic Anesthesia at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai
September 10 - 14, 2016
European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons at Copenhagen, Denmark
September 30, 2016
Ophthalmic Imaging: from Theory to Current Practice, CAP15 Conference Center, Paris,
October 01 – 02, 2016
"iSamanvay16" 44th Annual All Gujarat Ophthalmological Society & 27th Annual Oculoplastics Association of India
Conference, Baroda
October 05 – 08, 2016
European Association for Vision and Eye Research (EVER) 2016 at Nice, France
October 13 – 15, 2016
Global Ophthalmology and Glaucoma Conference at Kualalampur, Malaysia
October 15 – 18, 2016
American Academy of Ophthalmology 2016 at Chicago, USA
November 03 – 06, 2016
NUH Eye International Congress 2016, Singapore
November 18 - 20, 2016
"KOSCON 2016" 35th Annual Karnataka State Ophthalmic Conference at UVA Meridian Convention Center,
Udupi
November 30th - December 4, 2016
25th Vitreo Retinal Society India 2016 Annual Conference at Hyatt Regency, Chandigarh
December 02 - 04, 2016
AAPOS/SPOSI 2016: An Intercontinental Perspective of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at Marriott
Hotel, Jaipur
December 03, 2016
ART 2016 - Advanced Retinal Therapy at Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
December 05 - 06, 2016
7th European Ophthalmology Congress at 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: [email protected]
We are an International not-for-profit organization
working for eye care. Our programs focus on the
prevention of blindness and the treatment of
blinding eye disease specially among children.
We have been working in India for over a decade and
have established the world’s largest network of
Children’s Eye Centers in any one country; 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
