2020 Vision for the poor
D3131 Panvel, India
Panvel Industrial Town
Host club
Project lead: Janardhan Chalmela
D7430 Southeastern PA
West Reading-Wyomissing Rotary Club
International Sponsoring Partner
Project lead: Tyler Parmer
D7910 Serving Central & Metrowest Massachusetts
Financial donor
D6980 Central Florida
Financial donor
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This grant targets avoidable blindness through identification, counseling and treatment. This was achieved by upgrading the facility in the Netrajyot Hospital and carrying out the cataract surgeries for the poor and needy patients free of cost. The grant will increase the number of patients treated and also improve the quality and management of eye care. See additional details below.
Flyers were prepared in the local language Marathi for the community to learn about the opportunities.
The Beneficiary hospital Netrajyot Eye
The newly designed and old operating rooms are pictured below.
The surgeon and patient with new equipment.
The recovery room for the patients post surgery.
After all the planning, the following celebrated the first day of surgery. There are many smiles under those masks.
Project Contact –Rtn Dr Janardhan N C
Committee members - Rtn Prakash Shringarpure & Rtn Jeetendra Balad
President – Rtn Harmesh Tanna & Secretary – Rtn Kalpesh Parmer
RCPIT member – Rtn Saifuddin Vohra
Dr Mrs Verma Ophthalmic Surgeon and the 1st two patients for cataract surgery under GG
The first patient and surgeon post surgery.
D3131 has about 150,000 visually challenged (minor issue to total blindness) population . Out of these about 51,000 persons/around 92,000 eyes (not exactly double as few have problem in only one eye face avoidable blindness that can be treated or managed. Major cause of blindness is maturing cataracts and reducing cataract blindness will help eventually in reducing the avoidable blindness to a major extent.
Our project will address such avoidable blindness through investigation and treatment in the city of Panvel and surrounding villages. The city has a population of 500,000 and the surrounding rural area has population of 200,000.
The older population from the area need cataract treatment. Also, there is lot of transient population comprising workers and laborers due to expansion of the city and construction activity. Some of these workers have been forced to give up their job due to reduced vision caused by maturing cataracts. The Below the Poverty Line (BPL) population cannot afford cataract treatment even at reasonable rates. There is a sizable tribal population around Panvel who are always in need for cataract surgery, but due to lack of awareness and financial help they avoid surgery and end up with blindness. Senior citizens living in old age homes in and around Panvel will also need help for cataract surgeries. All the above-mentioned groups/ classes will be benefited by this project.
Thus, the project will target avoidable blindness through identification, counseling and treatment. This will be achieved by upgrading the facility in the Netrajyot Hospital and carrying out the cataract surgeries for the poor and needy patients free of cost.
More specifically through this grant Rotary will donate the equipment to enhance the existing capacity of the Netrajyot Hospital of Panvel, which in turn will increase the number of patients treated and also improve the quality and management of eye care.