Project Netra1000 is a partnership we've formed with a local NGO in India, Trilochan Netralaya (TN). Our aim is to serve the tribal belts in Western Orissa so that people in this under-served region of India may benefit from high quality ophthalmic care. We're committing to restore vision to 1000 individuals ailing from severe cataract. We're also looking into setting up a glaucoma and optometry training program, as well as a telemedicine service.
Dr Jayant, The Vision Mission CO-FOUNDER SPEAKS
If you've been wondering why The Vision Mission has been so quiet recently, it's because the team has been extraordinarily busy preparing for Project Netra1000. Project Netra- hold it, what's that? Let's find out from the man himself Dr Jayant Iyer, Co-Founder of The Vision Mission.
Netra basically means "eye" in Sanskrit. Netra also forms part of the name of the institution we are partnering with, i.e. Trilochan Netralaya.
It is ambitious, but it'll definitely achievable through the help of a highly skilled cataract surgeon Dr Shivaprasad Sahoo, who's also the director of Trilochan Netralaya (TN). Dr Shiva performs a surgery technique called "Small Incision (sutureless) Cataract Surgery" or SICS for short. This technique can be completed in under 3 minutes at low cost, with excellent postoperative results. Compare that to 15 minutes for a typical cataract surgery under an uncomplicated phacoemulsification procedure, which doctors like myself typically use in developed countries like Singapore. That's pretty amazing. So supporting Dr Shiva obviously brings about bigger impact. We're really excited to work with him on Project Netra and further his work in Orissa.
I wouldn't say it'll be very different, except that we'll be taking on a more focused approach through supporting Dr Shiva and Trilochan Netralaya (TN). A lot of it will be applying what we've learnt from past experiences in ophthalmic mission work, looking for ways to build on what's existing, and supplanting the rest of what's lacking within TN. My previous trips in ophthalmic mission work have brought me to places like Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Philippines, all of which were great eye-opening experiences (pun intended), where I was able to pick up skills specific to serving large number of patients without compromising on the quality of care. Learning the SICS method of cataract surgery is one example of this. SICS isn't just quick and efficient, it's also much cheaper compared to phacoemulsification surgery performed in developed countries, which requires expensive machinery. I also had the opportunity to meet several good-hearted and skilled ophthalmic surgeons who reminded me of my calling to pursue medicine - to serve others. This inspired me to set up The Vision Mission along with my co-founders Dr Jason Lee and Avinash Jayaraman, so I can use my experience to benefit others who need it.
There are a few areas in ophthalmology care which are of high impact value. One is dispensing glasses for refractive errors. The second is cataract surgery. Addressing cataract and refractive errors helps eliminate a significant proportion of treatable blindness or vision impairment in developing countries. In our previous trips to the region, we found many patients suffering from advanced glaucoma. The management of glaucoma requires sub-specialist expertise, which led us to involve more international glaucoma experts to join us a regular basis. They'll be the ones assisting in training the team and arranging domestic glaucoma fellowships for the team in India.
We want to develop Trilochan Netralaya (TN) into a tertiary eye care institute with the capability to treat patients with eye disease, far beyond cataracts and refractive errors. Western Orissa is extremely under-served when it comes to eye care. It holds a population of more than 12 million people. However there are only 3 to 4 operating ophthalmologists serving the entire region. That's shocking. To build TN into an established eye care institute, more services in various fields will be required, such as glaucoma, vitreo-retina, cornea, oculoplastics and pediatric ophthalmology. We're working on this by engaging international experts on a regular basis for mission trips and employing appropriate local expertise on a long term basis in TN. In the longer run, The Vision Mission intends to replicate the model we've set up in TN to other areas in need. We are constantly talking to various local doctors from other regions such as Northeastern India (eg: Meghalaya, Assam and Nagaland), Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar and Cambodia. We hope to find a suitable partner in these countries in 2015. So far the response from my colleagues in the Singapore ophthalmology fraternity has been great, as has that from all our donors, without whom none of this would have been possible. A big thank you to all of them! We look forward to their continued support so many more will receive the right to good sight!
Project Netra1000 is a partnership we've formed with a local NGO in India, Trilochan Netralaya (TN). Our aim is to serve the tribal belts in Western Orissa so that people in this under-served region of India may benefit from high quality ophthalmic care. We're committing to restore vision to 1000 individuals ailing from severe cataract. We're also looking into setting up a glaucoma and optometry training program, as well as a telemedicine service.
Project Netra1000 is a partnership we've formed with a local NGO in India, Trilochan Netralaya (TN). Our aim is to serve the tribal belts in Western Orissa so that people in this under-served region of India may benefit from high quality ophthalmic care. We're committing to restore vision to 1000 individuals ailing from severe cataract. We're also looking into setting up a glaucoma and optometry training program, as well as a telemedicine service.
- Kristie Neo