This article contains promotional content .(May 2023) |
Sankara Nethralaya | |
---|---|
Geography | |
Location | Chennai Kolkata |
Organisation | |
Type | Medical Research Foundation Eye Specialist |
Network | Chennai, Tamil Nadu Kolkata, West Bengal |
Services | |
Beds | 1000 |
History | |
Opened | 1978 |
Links | |
Website | www |
Sankara Nethralaya is a non-profit missionary institution for ophthalmic care headquartered in Chennai, India.
Sankara Nethralaya was rated among the top four ophthalmic institutions worldwide in 2020 by Newsweek. [1] Nani A. Palkivala, former Indian ambassador to United States, described Sankara Nethralaya as the "Best managed charitable organization in India". [2]
In 1976 when addressing a group of doctors, Sri Jayendra Saraswathi, the Sankaracharya of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam spoke of the need to create a hospital. Under the leadership of Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath, a group of philanthropists founded a charitable not-for-profit eye hospital. [3] On Vinayaka Chaturthi, 6 September 1978, the hospital came into existence. It was named Sankara Nethralaya, or "The Temple of the Eye".
Sankara Nethralaya has been branching out very fast recently. Apart from the five centres in Chennai and in Kolkata and Rameswaram, the hospital is now present in Bengaluru, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand as TTD Sri Srinivasa Sankara Nethralaya and mobile eye surgical unit.
The Medical Research Foundation focuses on providing "world-class eye care, community services, research and education -- broadly recognized as the four pillars of the Foundation." [4] In January 2020, it was reported that the hospital collection crossed Rs. 200 crores (Rs 2000 million) for the first time, according to its annual report. [4] In 2018–19, the number of free surgeries in the FY 2018-19 was 22,810—some 36% of total surgeries. [4] It has Mobile Eye Surgery Units in three Indian states—Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, which have conducted some 4520 totally free cataract surgeries in different villages across the three states. [4]
Branches
The Jaslok Community Ophthalmic Centre at Sankara Nethralaya offers free services to economically weaker sections. [5]
Apart from receiving patients from all over the country, Sankara Nethralaya renders service to international patients including the US, UK and Bangladesh. Bangladesh was reported as having topped the number of foreign patients at the Chennai branch of Sankara Nethralaya. [6]
Yearly, some 56,000 Bangladeshi patients arrived in Chennai for eye care at Sankara Nethralaya, accounting for some 60% of all patients in the hospital. The tertiary ophthalmic hospital, provides treatment to patients particularly from South Asia—Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan; Africa—Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, among other countries; and the Middle East including UAE and Oman. [6]
From its inception in 1978, the C U Shah Ophthalmic Postgraduate Training Center has been offering fellowship programmes in Vitreo-Retinal Surgery and General Ophthalmology to holders of postgraduate degree and a diploma in Ophthalmology. [7]
The Elite School of Optometry (ESO) is the first college of optometry in India offering a four-year professional degree: B.Optometry. It is run by Sankara Nethralaya in collaboration with SASTRA University, Tanjore from the academic year 2017–18. Previously, it functioned in collaboration with Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani. [8]
The Sankara Nethralaya Academy serves as a platform for creating, processing and disseminating knowledge related to eye care, ophthalmic research and hospital administration. The institution offers wide-ranging programmes including allied health sciences like Optometry (M.Optom, Fellowships and Certificate courses), Ophthalmic Dispensing (B.Sc.), Medical Laboratory Technology (B.Sc. & M.Sc.), Hospital & Healthcare Management (BBA & MBA), Hospital Administration (MHA), etc...
The Vision Research Foundation (VRF) has, over the last two decades, been doing premier work in the areas of ocular infections, cataract, tumours, angiogenesis and genetic basis of eye diseases and pathobiology of other ophthalmic disorders. Scientists working with VRF have developed basic techniques in applied medical biotechnology essential to understand disease processes involved in ophthalmology particularly related to etiopathogenesis and identification of infectious, genetic and malignant disorders. VRF has applied for four patents in Diagnostic Microbiology. One of the patents awarded was on corneal limbal stem cell in vitro expansion [9] for treating ocular surface disorders jointly with Nichi-In Centre for Regenerative Medicine. [10]
A unique teleophthalmology project was started in villages in a 100 km radius of Chennai with a mobile bus offering primary eye care. It was inaugurated by the former president of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, in 2003. The key to the project was a mobile bus, designed by a team from Sankara Nethralaya with assistance from the Indian Space Research Organisation. [11]
Registered as a public charitable trust in 1984, SWAN volunteers have served Sankara Nethralaya. [12] All medical and post operative needs of poor patients, including food and spectacles, are taken care of by SWAN volunteers. This apart, SWAN volunteers assists patients in the hospital, help the Medical Records Department, Library, Patient service dept, organise conferences, events, maintain the STD booths, utility and coffee shop at the hospital premises. [12]
Ophthalmology is a clinical and surgical specialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. A former term is oculism.
Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive eye care.
An eye care professional is an individual who provides a service related to the eyes or vision. It is any healthcare worker involved in eye care, from one with a small amount of post-secondary training to practitioners with a doctoral level of education.
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Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath was an Indian ophthalmologist who was the founder and chairman emeritus of Sankara Nethralaya, one of India's largest charitable eye hospitals. He was an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences. He received the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India in 1996. He also received many other awards, including Padma Shri and the Dr. B. C. Roy Award.
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Healthcare in Chennai is provided by both government-run and private hospitals. Chennai attracts about 45 percent of health tourists from abroad arriving in the country and 30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists. The city has been termed Health Capital of India. Multi- and super-specialty hospitals across the city bring in an estimated 150 international patients every day. Factors behind the tourists' inflow in the city include low costs, little to no waiting period, and facilities offered at the speciality hospitals in the city.
Teleophthalmology is a branch of telemedicine that delivers eye care through digital medical equipment and telecommunications technology. Today, applications of teleophthalmology encompass access to eye specialists for patients in remote areas, ophthalmic disease screening, diagnosis and monitoring; as well as distant learning.
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Sankara Eye Hospital is a not for profit charitable trust which aims at providing affordable eye care and eliminating curable eye blindness in India. Having its headquarters in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Sankara is among the largest community eye care providers in India with ten super specialty eye care hospitals across the country performing over 150,000 free eye surgeries annually.
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