Eye Care - Mission for Vision – India
Partner
Mission for Vision
www.mfvindia.org
Goal
Eradicate curable blindness in India.
Vision
To restore gift of vision to every visually impaired human being, irrespective of nationality, religion or socio-economic status.
Mission
To establish in partnership a hospital in every State of India providing free high quality eye care to the rural poor.
Duration
2001 – to date
Overview
Mission for Vision was formed in 1999 to address the blindness problem in India. Mission for Vision acts as an umbrella organisation for hospitals throughout India that are providing free, high quality surgeries to those who would not otherwise be able to access or afford eye care services. Today they support 14 charitable eye hospitals throughout India, performing over 180,000 free eye surgeries a year.
Each hospital works to identify poor patients in rural areas by holding temporary eye camps in remote areas where there are no eye care facilities. Individuals considered fit for surgery are brought to the hospitals by bus where they remain for three days undergoing pre-operative tests followed by surgery and then post-operative checks before returning to their homes. At least two post-operative checks are then carried out in the eye camps at which they were identified. The surgery, lens, medicines, accommodation, food and transportation are all provided completely free of charge at an approximate cost of £35 per person.
Mission for Vision is focused on quality, and has a dedicated department to assess patient care and quality of surgery. The department assesses 10% of all free surgeries, and the results are shared with the donors, surgeons and hospitals.
Savitri Support
From 2001 to 31st March 2011, the Savitri Trust has donated £721,690 to Mission for Vision and its partners. The funds have gone toward capital infrastructure, equipment, free cataract surgeries for over 790,000 rural people, and a pilot diabetic retinopathy programme in Coimbatore.
Zuma Restaurant in London is our proud sponsor of Mission for Vision. Zuma’s patrons donate £1 per table towards cataract operations conducted by Mission for Vision. In 2010, the restaurant raised £51,169. The Savitri Trust thanks all diners and staff of Zuma for their support.
Case Study
Nani, a nine months old female child from Chaudapalli, Andhra Pradesh was brought to Jaslok Community Ophthalmic Centre (Sankara Nethralaya) through a screening camp with a complaint of no vision in both of her eyes. She was diagnosed with bilateral cataract, and lensactomy surgery was carried out in both eyes on 25th January 2010 and 2nd February 2010. During review, Nani was found to be doing well and spectacles were given to her. Her progress will be monitored by the hospital for the next few years and subsequently when the eye tissue develops, she will be provided with intra-ocular lens, providing Nani with good vision for the rest of her life.
