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 Media
: Indus Business Journal - Special: Health & Medicine - Issue: 6/15/05
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Eyes of the World By Martin Desmarais India is home to almost half of the world's blind with an estimated 15 million blind people, more than any other country in the world. The problem has reached epidemic proportions and organizations in the United States, as well as Indian-American professionals, are throwing their hats in the ring to help fight it. Earlier this year, ORBIS International visited India with its "Flying Eye Hospital" for a one-week training program in New Delhi. The Flying Eye Hospital is a DC-10 airplane that has an onboard operating room and teaching facility. The plane is used by ORBIS to fly around the world and train local doctors in a number of vision procedures. The doctors are then charged with training others in their countries, helping spread the ability to combat blindness. During ORBIS's recent trip to New Delhi, for example, 65 local eye-care professionals were trained by ORBIS's volunteer staff of about 15 doctors in programs on eye banking and corneal blindness. The beauty of the Flying Eye Hospital, according to Susan Glass, ORBIS's director of corporate relations, is that because it is mobile, standard and successful techniques in fighting blindness can be brought to areas that would otherwise not have access to them. India is a perfect example of this. "There are very sophisticated hospitals and there are top notch surgeons, the problems is getting to the rural areas," she said. Though the Flying Eye Hospital is a full-fledged hospital that can treat up to three patients at a time, the strength of the plane is its usefulness as a teaching facility - the plane has 54 monitors, 16 cameras and microphones everywhere. The doctors who are trained on the plane can get recordings of their sessions to help them when they train others. The sessions can also be projected on a screen outside the plane for more doctors and health-care workers to observe. "We only do five patients a day," said Glass. "It is not about the numbers, it is about teaching." This emphasis on training is something that ORBIS has stressed since it was founded in 1972. Glass said the attitude is that giving monetary or medical equipment to countries that need it just isn't enough - you have to provide training. "You can't just donate these pieces of equipment and think a miracle is going to happen," she said. India's President, Dr. Abdul Kalam, visited the recent ORBIS training program in New Delhi and, according to Glass, was very excited and pledged his support. "He set up a satellite dish so we could project the operations all around," Glass said. "He spent hours with us. They had to drag him out of the plane." ORBIS has been holding programs in India since 1988. In 1999, the organization established a country office in New Delhi that also runs programs at Indian hospitals. The first Flying Eye Hospital was established in 1982 on a DC-8 donated from United Airlines. ORBIS flew its first mission, to Panama, that year. In 1992, the Flying Eye Hospital upgraded to a DC-10, which has more than twice the room of a DC-8. Currently, ORBIS works with FedEx Corp., which has a large number of DC-10s in its fleet. FedEx pilots, engineers and mechanics volunteer to help with the ORBIS missions. FedEx sponsored the recent flight to India and FedEx workers in India helped with the event. FedEx is also backing an ORBIS initiative in China. In addition to the high numbers of blind in India, what makes the country a great example of the problem with blindness is that most of it can be avoided. Cataract accounts for more than half of the blindness in India, and this condition can be treated. According to information from ORBIS, more than half of the 320,000 children who are blind in India wouldn't be if trained pediatric eye care professional and facilities were available. Of India's 900 hospitals only 10 have separate pediatric units for children's eye problems; there are just 150 pediatric eye doctors in the entire country. ORBIS points out that Indian eye care facilities, at all levels, have inadequate equipment and supplies and existing equipment is often not properly maintained or no one knows who to use it. "A majority of the people who are blind don't need to be," Glass said. It is this very sentiment that got Indian-American businessman Murali Krishnamurthy involved in the battle against India's epidemic blindness. Krishnamurthy, a computer professional by trade, launched the Sankara Eye Foundation, USA, in 1998. The non-profit group functions as the U.S. arm of the Sankara Eye Society, an organization founded in India in 1977. In India, Sankara focuses on providing medical services to the blind through a number of hospitals. Sankara USA is providing a lot of the financial backing for these hospitals and for the ability to offer free eye surgeries. Drawing on the United States has provided a huge boost for Sankara India, according to Krishnamurthy. Sankara USA helped fund about 8,000 free eye surgeries in its first year in 1998. Last year, the organization helped fund 56,000 free eye surgeries. This year that number is expected to exceed 60,000. The group, which is run by Krishnamurthy, his brother, Sritharan, and Ahmad Khushnood, has steadily increased the amount of money its has raised every year. In 2003, it topped the $1 million mark; last year it raised $1.2 million; this year it is on pace for $1.5 million. Since its start, Sankara USA has garnered funds from 15,000 donors. Krishnamurthy said that the organization tries very hard to keep a relationship with donors to keep them coming back. "For every donation they get feedback from India," he said. "We let them know your donation helped do this, it helped do that." Sankara USA has made efforts to connect with Indian-American groups such as The Indus Entrepreneurs and the Association of the Physicians of Indian Origin. It has also taken out advertisements on South Asian television programs in the United States. The group tries to get the typically donor to give at least $30, which covers one eye surgery in India, but there is also hope that more individuals will come forward with large donations for capital projects. It is also hoping to set up a corporate donation program. Run out of Krishnamurthy's California home, Sankara USA has two part-time employees and a network of 300 volunteers across the country. Krishnamurthy said that the interest and generosity continues to grow and that when people realize that much of the blindness in India could be prevented or cured they want to do something to help. "There has been enormous care-giving to people," he said. "It just touches you." Published with permission from IndUS Business Journal |
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