CHENNAI: The Nari Shakti Puraskar, the highest civilian award for recognising the achievements and contributions of women, was awarded to Dr Sujatha Mohan, a Chennai-based ophthalmologist, this International Women’s Day. As the executive medical director of Rajan Eye Care Hospital, Mohan has been dedicated towards eradicating preventable blindness in south India. Her main motive is to provide basic eye services to the rural and poor population in Chennai and its adjoining districts.
Towards this cause, the Chennai Vision Charitable Trust (CVCT), the philanthropic arm of Rajan Eye Care Hospital, has been engaged in these ophthalmology services to marginalised sections of society, in a 150-km radius around Chennai and the surrounding districts.
The Trust has also performed more than 3,500 eye screening camps, 10,00,000 free screenings, 1,10,000 free cataract surgeries with intraocular lens implantation, and distributed more than 3,40,000 free spectacles and medicines till date.
Through the Rotary Rajan Eye Bank, a project in association with the Rotary Club of Madras T Nagar, District 3232, more than 7,000 corneal transplant surgeries has been conducted free of cost.
Additionally, the CVCT’s Nethra Vahana, a van equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment facilities, has been extensively used for their outreach programmes held throughout the year. The van has travelled to remote villages like Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Villupuram. It has also helped the needy in three districts in Andhra Pradesh.