Rtn Bill Gray, past dist governor, Rotary International 7040 Canada, and Rtn A P Kanna, district governor R I Dist 3230, launched project ROTAVISION recently in the presence of Rtn ISAK Nazar, dist governor nominee, R I Dist 3230.
The project, they said, aimed to give a comprehensive quality eye care for all sections of the community at all ages, irrespective of caste, creed, religion and socioeconomic status.
The project will include the schemes CORNEA and Diabetic Retinopathy for the needy.Under project CORNEA, thousand corneal transplant surgeries will be performed for children below the age of 15 years absolutely free of cost.
Also, towards combating the corneal blindness, over 4,500 corneal transplant surgeries have been successfully performed totally free of cost by Rotary Rajan Eye Bank . It is said that out of 100 deaths reported in the city, if only about 10 pairs of eyes could be collected, corneal blindness in and around Chennai could be eradicated.
The Eye Bank aims at reaching the place of the deceased within half an hour of receiving the call to collect the eyes. In order to create awareness about donating eyes, the Eye Donation Fortnight is also conducted year after year, wherein several programs are conducted among school children, college students, and service clubs. These include painting competition and conducting symposiums, among others.