TELEOPHTHALMOLOGY AT SANKARA NETHRALAYA

INDIA lives in its villages. According to the data available, there is a big void in eye care facilities for those who really need them. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the number of blind and visually impaired will double from 180 million to 360 million in the year 2020 unless concerted action is taken. Ninety percent of the world's blind people live in developing countries.

FACTS

•  One person in the world goes blind, every five seconds.

•  A child goes blind every minute.

•  There are 45 million people who are blind in the world.

•  There are 135 million more with significant loss of vision.

•  80% of blindness is avoidable.

TELEOPHTHALMOLOGY

Teleophthalmology holds a great potential to improve the quality, access, and affordability in health care. For patients, it can reduce the need for travel and provide the access to a super-specialist. Ophthalmology lends itself easily to telemedicine as it is a largely image based diagnosis. The rapid progress achieved in the field of Telecommunications renders Teleophthalmology easily feasible.

WHAT IS MOBILE TELEOPHTHALMOLOGY?

It is a mobile unit with all latest equipments for a comprehensive eye examination and a facility to interact with ophthalmologists at the base hospital Sankara Nethralaya, 18, College Road , Chennai for diagnosis and management of eye problems.

WHAT DO WE DO USING TELEOPHTHALMOLOGY?

We conduct FREE

•  Eye Awareness Programs

•  Continuing Medical Education Programs for Doctors in rural areas

•  Train the teachers for vision screening program

•  Comprehensive eye examination in rural areas at patients door step.