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Express News Service

CHENNAI: It was during the pandemic that FM RadioCity received a call from Suresh, a weaver describing his tough fight with cataract and a plea for help as his profession depended on his vision. Providing a solution to the problem, Dr Mohan Rajan, chairman and medical director, Rajan Eye Care Hospital, collaborated with RadioCity and provided free checkup and treatment to the weaver. This initiative that began for Suresh has now extended as the Weavers Vision Project, serving 10,000 weavers in the silk belt ofthe state.

Service for a lifetime

Celebrating World Sight Day 2022 at the Rajan Eye Care Hospital, T Nagar, organised by Chennai Vision Charitable Trust and Rotary Rajan Eye Bank, the event witnessed the distribution of privilege cards to the weavers of Thiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Cheyyar, Vellore and Arani. Dr Vishnu Prasad, MP, gave the cards to almost 300 weavers, and applauded the initiative. The privilege cards will authorise the weavers to get free consultations, retino surgery, glasses and other eye health services, free for their entire life, said Dr Mohan. He also educated the audience on the importance of eyesight and the awareness of eye related problems. India contributes to 1/5th of the global blindness with 25 million people affected by blindness. If a kid loses his/her eyesight, he or she will lose 33 working years. For adults it is eight years of loss of working years, he explained.

Initiatives through years

The event also shed light on the fact that India is the largest producer of blindness, cataract disease and children with blindness in the world. Even though there is the case of curable blindness due to various reasons like cracker injury, diapetic retinopathy, short-sightedness or long-sightedness, the doctors confirmed that most people arent aware of the treatment they had to undergo and the various schemes available for reducing the economic burden on these treatments. Providing a solution to the array of problems, Rajan Eye Care started their eye bank in 1991.

With several ambassadors, the project has reached millions of people and the institution continues to spread awareness on corneal blindness and the importance of eye donation. In 2005 their initiative, Blind Free India - A Reality, started organising eye donation rallies every year, reiterating the slogan, Daanathil siranthathu Kandanam, Kankale erikartheerkal, puthaikartherkal (The greatest donation is eye donation, dont bury or burn them).

The hospital also took the tertiary eye care services to the rural doorstep. Now, the latest initiative empowering the weaving community aims to create a better future for them and provide help to a major part of the working sector of the country. Guest of honour, Dr Nandakumar N, district governor, R.I Dist 3232, summed up, We need to support weavers and understand that their job is a seasonal play and requires a lot of effort. With collaborations like this, we can provide help to more people.

Read more from the original source:
Sighting solutions in a world of vision for weavers - The New Indian Express

This entry was posted on October 15, 2022 at 1:44 am and is filed under Blindness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |