Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, the group of charitable hospitals, has opened a school of optometry based in Madurai, supported by Essilor India Pvt. The school of optometry will be the second of its kind in the country after the Bausch & Lomb School of Optometry.

This new school by Aravind will offer a two-year diploma in optometry recognized by the Madurai Kamaraj University. In addition, there will be other short term courses on hospital and optical related specializations. Plans are underway to start a four-year degree in optometry.

Aravind school has envisaged a project where it will undertake the training of 5- 10 students from rural areas each year. These will be trained in basic refraction, eye care and dispensing to help people in their surrounding villages. "The optometry school is a continuation of our efforts to enhance eye care standards," said Dr. G Venkatswamy chairman, Aravind Eye Hospital.

According World Health Organization, globally 37 million are blind with an annual 1-2 million new cases annually. Without proper intervention, by 2020, it is estimated that there could be 75 million blind people. Around 75% of blindness can be treated or prevented by timely intervention.

India is currently facing a serious shortfall of eye care professionals which is estimated to be around 10,000 to treat a population of one billion. These are optometrists passing out of the various optometry schools in India which do not include ophthalmologists. There is a need for over 75,000 trained professionals from reputed optometry schools, informed B Jayanth, MD, Essilor India.

Aravind Eye Hospitals was started under the Govel Trust in 1976 by Dr. G. Venkataswamy. The Hospital is an international training centre for ophthalmic professionals. Its network covers Madurai, Coimbatore, Pondicherry, Tirunelveli & Theni.

Essilor, a Euro 2.3 billion world leader in ophthalmic optical products, has operations in over 100 countries. Essilor India is a subsidiary of Essilor International began their Indian operations in Bangalore in August 1998. It has regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Essilor products are available at leading opticians.