Help the faster recovery of cataract surgery patients by Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal

292 Cataract Surgeries were carried out

An update from this program has not been made available by the nonprofit. We hope to hear more about their work in the coming months.

Mr Jagjit Singh 71 Years old from Mehna Moga is a farmer with a small piece of land. He and his wife involved in farming for their livelihood. Due to poor vision he could not able to work in the farm. It is very hard for him to survive in life without regular income. His daughter is also not in a position to help her father. he was referred by his sarpanch to Sankara Eye Hospital Ludhiana community outreach camp which was organized near his village. He was taken care at the camp and advised for cataract surgery. At the base hospital he underwent cataract surgery and got his vision back. Now he is a happy farmer back with full hope.

We are happy to inform that we have conducted 155 camps and screened 8,263 persons during this period. We have performed 2801 free, 739 subsidy and 1340 paying cataract surgeries. The Hospital has also performed 248 specialty surgeries. The outreach camps are conducted daily in Chennai, Chengalpet, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur & border districts of Tamil Nadu.

We have joined with Rotary to establish 40 Vision Centres in various rural villages to serve at their doorstep. The Rotary Foundation has come forward to support us for the procurement of equipment, computers, furniture and electrical items. So far we have opened 26 Vision Centres.

We are looking for the location of the Vision Centre is near vicinity of our existing campsite so that we can stop conducting camps and the person who needs eye consultation can approach the Vision Centre which is a primary eye care.

Plan to open another 14 Vision Centres in the next calendar year.

Sri.C.Chandran (MRD No. 554425) S/o.Sri.Chengan is 67 years of age and presently resides at No.779/C, Mettu Street, Villiyar Colony, Tharatchi, Thiruvallur, Tamilnadu. He is the only bread winner in his family working as daily wage laborer. He and his wife (home maker) living alone. His two daughters got married.

For about one year, he was suffering with poor vision and could not concentrate on his work. This drastically affected his income. He know about the Free Eye Screening Camp organized by Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal at Thandalam on May 26, 2022 and he attended the camp. Upon testing his eyes, the Ophthalmologist confirmed mature cataract on his Left eye and he was advised to take up the surgery immediately. Based on his consent, he was brought to the hospital the same day along with other patients selected for the surgery.

He underwent the general health check-up for physical fitness. The Small Incision Cataract Surgery with Intra Ocular Lens on his Left Eye was performed on 27th May 2022 successfully. He was provided with medicines, accommodation, food & nursing care during his stay, all absolutely free of cost and was discharged the following day with good post-operative vision and the hospital team dropped him at his village.

Chandran is glad to get his eye sight restored. He resumed his work and performs his day-to-day activities without any hassle.

Sankara Eye Hospital conducts rural outreach eye screening camps through its 'Kannoli-Vision Saver Project' in the districts of Kanchipuram, Thiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore and Chittoor districts, and performs free cataract surgery for eligible patients.

The period between July and December 2021 was a recovery and restoration period after the second wave of Covid - 19 had severely impacted our Outreach programme for almost three months. Our Hospital's main operation centres around our Rural Outreach initiative where we conduct screening camps at various villages and identify patients needing Cataract intervention to restore vision. The intervention is a comprehensive one which covers screening, pick up, pre-operative surgical fitness checks, surgery, post-operative review on the day after the surgery, discharge, transportation back to the camp location and two post-operative reviews, one after 7 days and another after 30 days to confirm Vision restoration. The entire intervention is completely free of cost to the patient

Faster recovery after a Cataract operation depends on many factors but one of the important elements is nutritious food before and after surgery and a very strict regimen in medication. At Sankara, both these are meticulously adopted. The Nursing staff spend time explaining the importance of timely dispensing of the eye drops as well as the importance of adherence to the tapering schedule which is not only printed in the Discharge summary but is also explained in detail at the time of discharge. The importance of safe food chewing of which does not cause disturbance to the operated eye is explained and this is kept in mind while preparing the meals at the Hospital

Under normal conditions, the hospital carries out around 60 surgeries every day but Covid-19 has severely impacted this number due to the extensive safeguards that need to be taken in the Wards as well as Operation Theaters. Cyclonic weather from October to early December also affected camps and patient footfall. During this period, the hospital carried out 2801 free Cataract surgeries though twice that number could have been performed in the absence of these impediments

Sri S Raji (MRD No. 516866) S/o.Sri Subramani is 53 years of age and presently resides at NO.8, Radhakrishnan Street, VOC Nagar, Pammal, Chennai, Tamilnadu. He is working in a private Hospital in the Housekeeping department. He is living in a rented house with his wife and one son. His son has passed a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering and searching for a job.

For about 1 year, he had been suffering from poor vision and was not able to perform his duties efficiently. His vision was worsening day by day. He felt that it is a distance vision issue and by wearing spectacles this will be resolved. He came to know from the local volunteer that there is a free Eye Screening Camp organized by Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal at Selaiyur on October 17 2021, and he attended the camp. Upon testing his eyes, the Ophthalmologist confirmed a cataract on his Left eye and advised him to take up the surgery immediately. Based on his consent, he was brought to the hospital on the same day along with other patients selected for the surgery.

He underwent a general health check-up for physical fitness. Phacoemulsification Cataract Surgery with Intra Ocular Lens on his Left Eye was performed on 19th October 2021 successfully. He was provided with medicines, accommodation, food & nursing care during his stay, all of it free of cost and was discharged the following day with good post-operative vision and the hospital team dropped him at his residence. His vision is now 6/6

Raji is very happy with the restoration of his eyesight and is now able to see the objects from both, distance & nearby. He is confident in performing his day-to-day activities without any impediment.

This financial year beginning was a challenging one for all of us due to COVID 19 pandemic.

The Government has suspended the outreach eye screening camps from 24th March 2020 due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

During the last 9 months from April to December 2020, the Hospital has conducted 5 outreach camps and screened 143 persons. The Hospital has performed 141 free, 1283 paying, 594 subsidized cataract surgeries. The Hospital has also performed 159 specialty surgeries.

Case Study of Sri K Kumar – MRD No.504286

Sri Kumar, S/o Sri Kullan aged 53 years resides at No.10, Second Street, Poompukar Nagar, Pammal, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is working as watchman in a leather company. He is the only earning member in his family consisting of two sisters and their kids who live with him. He is unmarried and has sacrificed his life for his sisters. They are living in a thatched house.

Over 6 months, he has been suffering from poor vision on his Left Eye. He came to our Hospital on 22nd September 2020 and diagnosed hyper-mature cataract on left eye. He was advised to undergo cataract surgery. He was advised to admit on 29th September.

The routine health check-ups were done on 29th September and found to be fit for the surgery. He was admitted on the same day. Small Incision Cataract Surgery with Intra Ocular Lens in left eye was performed on 30th September 2020 successfully. He was provided with medicines, accommodation, food & nursing care during his stay, all absolutely free of cost. He was discharged on the next day with good post-operative vision. He underwent two reviews after surgery, the first at after one week and the final one after 30 days. His vision at the second review was 6/9.

Kumar is highly delighted to have his eye sight restored – that too totally free of cost. He is now confident and has rejoined his duty.

Recovery of patients

During the last few months, the Hospital has conducted 237 outreach camps and screened 13224 persons. The Hospital has performed 3464 free, 1425 paying, 754 subsidized cataract surgeries. The Hospital has also performed 307 specialty surgeries. Case study of Sri E Janarthanan – MRD No. 502908 Sri Janarthanan, S/o.Elumalai is 64 years of age and presently resides at No.Vinayagar Koil Street, Kalathumedu, Viruthampattu, Vellore District, Tamilnadu. He is a coolie (tree climber). For about 1½ years, he was suffering with poor vision. Last few months, it has developed to a matured cataract and that stopped him from going to job. Due to the non-affordability and the family situation, he chose the free Eye Screening Camp organized by Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal on 06/02/2020 at Musaravakkam and he attended the camp. Upon testing his eyes, the Ophthalmologist informed him about the presence of hyper-mature cataract on his right eye and the need to undergo the surgery immediately. Based on his consent, he was brought to the hospital the same day along with other patients selected for the surgery. He underwent the general health check-up for physical fitness. The Small Incision Cataract Surgery with Intra Ocular Lens on Right Eye was performed on 7th February 2020, successfully. He was provided with medicines, accommodation, food & nursing care during his stay, all absolutely free of cost. He was discharged on the next day with good post-operative vision and dropped back home. The restoration of eye sight has brought new confidence. After the second follow up he started going for his work, as well managing the day-to-day activities. He is happy and thankful for the support received.

Eye donation rally to raise awareness

Program Update

Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal has been conducting rural outreach eye screening camps in around 1200 villages of Kanchipuram & Thiruvallur districts of Tamil Nadu and Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Our Branch Hospital at Samarjhola, Odisha conducts similar camps in Ganjam District which covers 3226 villages

So far the hospitals have performed over 2.89 lakh surgeries of which over 85% of the patients are rural poor. The hospitals have performed 4482 free cataract surgeries between January and March 2019.

During their stay in the hospital, the nutritional needs are taken care to accommodate dietary restrictions for hypertensive and diabetic patients.

Story from the field

 Ramachandran   R, S/o.Sri.K.Radhakrishnan aged 49 years, is residing at No.30/21, Adhiyappa   Street, Chintadripet, Chennai. He is   working as mason. 


He was having problem with his eye sight for over eight months. He came to know that an eye screening camp   is conducted by Sankara Eye Hospital on 21/03/2019 nearby his house. He attended the camp and after thorough   examination, the doctors advised to undergo Cataract Surgery in his right   eye. He was brought to the Hospital   and admitted on the same day. 


He underwent the general health checkup for physical fitness. The Small Incision Cataract Surgery with   Intra Ocular Lens on Right Eye was performed on 22nd March 2019,   successfully. He was provided with medicines, accommodation, food &   nursing care during his stay, all absolutely free of cost. He was discharged on the next day with good   post-operative vision and dropped back home.


The restoration of sight has brought a huge change in his life. Now he is able to work as well manage the   day-to-day activities comfortably. He   and his family are thankful for the support.                                                                               

Program Update

Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal has been conducting rural outreach eye screening camps in around 1200 villages of Kanchipuram & Thiruvallur districts of Tamil Nadu and Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

So far the hospital has performed over 2.75 lakhs surgeries of which over 90% of the patients are rural poor. The success of the Hospital in this endeavor could happen only because of the untiring support of the village volunteers.

We are happy to inform that the hospital has performed 5711 free cataract surgeries between April and September 2018.

Apart from the surgery, during their stay in the hospital, we take care of their nutrition needs. Many of the patients suffer from non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes etc which need special dietary retrictions. We identify such patients with a unique dress colour and meals for such people are specially tailored for their condition. In the case of diabetics, even the tea served is without sugar. For all patients, the food served is of nutrional value with a healthy balance of vegetables, proteins and cereals.

Story from the field

Indumathi hails from Thiruvoor in Tiruvallur District - Tamilnadu. She is 42 years of age now. Her two daughters are school going children. Her husband is a night watchman in a private company. In order to supplement the family income, she had been working on the National MGNREGA projects which involved in filling of forms for the public. This could not be continued when her vision got impaired which had an impact on the family income.

Indumathi had been experiencing blurred vision for over six months and in view of the economic condition, she avoided visiting the hospital. When the problem aggravated, she attended the Free Eye Screening camp organized by Sankara Eye Hospital at Thiruvallur on 2nd May 2018. She came to know about the camp through her neighbour who got operated in Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal. She attended the camp along with her husband. Her eyes were thoroughly examined and was diagnosed as having cataract in her right eye. She agreed to the suggestion of the Ophthalmologist to get it operated immediately and was taken to the base hospital at Pammal.

The surgery was performed after the routine health check-ups and the cataract removed on 3rd May 2018. She was under postoperative care for a day. On ascertaining her recovery, she was discharged from the hospital the next day with required counselling, medication and nutrition.

The restoration of sight has brought a huge change in her life. Now she is able to continue to engage herself as an earning member. She greatly appreciates the help provided to her through this eye care program.

Between Jan and July '18, a total of 5711 patients were admitted to the Hospital. On an average, each patient was provided one breakfast, one lunch and two dinners apart from four cups of tea. All meals provided are unlimited in quantity. Of the 5711 patients, 1304 were having pre-existing problems like diabetes, hypertension etc and were served with special diet at every meal.