An MoU was signed between the India Vision Institute, Amity University and the African Vision Research Institute to further the cause of prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness
Amity University Gurgaon, in collaboration with India Vision Institute Hyderabad and Brien Holden Vision Institute Australia, celebrated World Sight Day at the University on October 9th. On this occasion, the national world sight lecture was also delivered by Prof Brien Holden, who is a world leader in eye care and vision correction.
As per WHO, there are around 285 million visually impaired people worldwide, out of which 39 million are blind, of which developing countries account for 90 per cent. India has the largest population of visually impaired people (153 million) in the world. 80 per cent of them could have been prevented from going blind if they had received timely treatment. Further, refractive errors which are caused by irregularity in the eye’s shape result in blurred and impaired vision. India requires well-qualified and trained manpower to take care of this monumental problem.
An MoU was signed between the India Vision Institute (IVI), Amity University, and the African Vision Research Institute (AVRI), to further the close cooperation in prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness on World Sight Day.
“We are committed to securing good eye health practices through sound research and evidence generation leading to change in socially responsive eye health policies,” said Mr Vinod Daniel, CEO, India Vision Institute. “The MoU will further strengthen our continuing partnership with Amity and AVRI in finding proactive solutions to address the consequences of vision impairment,” he added.
“This collaborative arrangement will assist both Africa and India in better coordinating research efforts and securing international assistance through expertise and resources,” said Prof Brien Holden, CEO of the Brien Holden Vision Institute.
“We, at Amity University Gurgaon, are firmly committed to build the desired capacity and pursue the frontiers of research and innovation in the area of optometry so as to support our nation’s resolve to eradicate blindness and provide clarity of vision to millions of our visually impaired people. We see great value of the MoU which we are signing with AVRI (African Vision Research Institute) and IVI (Indian Vision Institute) today on the eve of the World Sight Day being celebrated at our University,” said Prof PB Sharma, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Gurgaon.
Amity University is currently running Bachelors and Master degree programmes in its Department of Optometry under the faculty of medical sciences. These programmes hold high value in creating quality professionals for eye health care. Monica Choudhry, Professor and Head Optometry at AUG, said, “Optometry can play an important role in prevention of blindness because 80 per cent of visual impairment is preventable. At Amity University Gurgaon, we have adopted a ‘mission vision’ which is to eliminate preventable blindness. I see great excitement in the students opting for our bachelors and masters courses in optometry. Our curriculum is structured at par with the global programmes and has a strong element of public health and research. The MoU shall drive our Department of Optometry to higher levels of post graduate studies and research.”
Dr AK Nagpal, Chairman Board of Governors of RBMF and mentor of Amity Medical School at AUG said that through Amity Vision Mission they are committed to serving the rural and semi-rural population living below the poverty line to eradicate preventable blindness. He also commended the excellent work being carried out by the Amity Medical School in the area of optometry and eye care.
Those present on the occasion included Maj Gen Dr Mahavir Singh, Dean Faculty of Health & Allied Sciences and a large number of faculty and students of Amity Medical School at AUG.
