Gift of Vision Program- Our rural outreach program which implies going to the economically disadvantaged people in rural areas who need the care and education instead of waiting for them to come to a hospital or medical institution for eye care. In this model, a base hospital caters to all the villages located within its 200-300 km radius. SEF field workers go door to door to the villages to perform first level vision screening to identify people with visual impairment. These patients are then screened and further evaluated by SEF doctors at eye camps conducted by SEF at or near the village. Those needing surgery and further treatment are taken to the base hospital in SEF buses. Patients stay at the base hospital for 3 days, and are provided accommodation, comprehensive medical examination, surgery, medicines, and food completely free of cost. After successful treatment, the patients are transported back to their villages and systematic follow-up is done after 30 days to ensure that patients have had successful recovery.
Services Available at Hospitals:
SEF, India hospitals offer a full range of eye care services including cataract, refractive errors, glaucoma, corneal blindness, laser vision correction, diabetic retinopathy, ocular oncology, pediatric ophthalmology, and eye banking, among others.
Rainbow Program- This is a school screening program in which teacher volunteers are trained to do the preliminary screening on students. After this, an eye care team consisting of an ophthalmologist and/or optometrist from the Sankara Eye Hospital screens the children. Children who need further treatment are transported to the Sankara Eye Hospital for a more comprehensive examination. If prescription eyeglasses are needed, they are distributed free of charge.
Swagatham- Comprehensive neonatal screening program in which newborns are screened for congenital defects.
Maitri- Screening program for preschoolers ages 3-6 attending integrated child development centers or orphanages. Children suspected of having visual defects are transported to the base hospital for treatment.
Eye Bank - Recognized by the Government of India as a model eye bank for the Nation, SEF, India’s Eye Bank was established in 1985 and is considered the most successful eye bank in the country. The Eye Bank receives a pair of eyes almost every day and has carried out over 4,000 corneal transplants. SEF, India also provides donor cornea to other eye banks for emergency transplants.
Sankara Academy of Vision- Training center in Bangalore, Karnataka established in 2012 to recruit and train staff including paramedics and optometrists for upcoming Sankara Eye Hospitals as well as train existing staff.
