With a population of over 1 billion, India now has more than 11,000 ophthalmologists. Over the last 30 years India has developed a number of very successful independent NGO eye care institutions. These institutions are predominantly focussed in the south of the country.

Aravind Eye Hospital, a collaborating partner of RTS, performs 300,000 cataract operations and over 2.5million outpatient visits per annum. Aravind has developed the high-volume, self-sustaining eye care approach that is central to the RTS mission. Aravind treats all patients regardless of their ability to pay, and they use revenue from the higher income patients to subsidize the free care to their poorest patients.

Right to Sight currently has three projects in India

1. Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalomogy (Laico) - Aravind/Laico, Tamil Nadu

Current Status

• LAICO grew out of the Aravind Eye Hospital, to spread the knowledge and capacity of the high-volume approach to other eye care and health organizations.

• RTS has partnered with LAICO to improve its capacity to deliver services while integrating its services within RTS to work with RTS partners.

RTS Objectives

• To expand the human resource and consultancy ability of LAICO to support RTS in the field.

• To establish further workshops to highlight the key principals of high capacity, high volume sustainable eye care.

• To train 40 new hospital managers in the next three years.

2. Laico - RTS product design and development

Current Status

• LAICO has been engaged in the capacity building of eye care organizations, assisting them to move to a model of high-volume, sustainable eye care since 1995.

• The steps undertaken by LAICO with these organizations have not been properly packaged and marketed to service providers.

• In partnership with RTS LAICO is now packaging their services in a web-based product that will allow it to be readily transferred to other organizations.

RTS Objectives

• To complete the product development by summer 2008.

• To use the product to highlight the learning gained from RTS existing 25 projects.

• To share this knowledge with existing NGOs and government to allow for the successful scale up of projects from summer 2009.

3. JMJ-Grace Vision Foundation, Orissa

Current Status

• A committed team of eye care specialists are serving in an area of extreme poverty.

• RTS aim to help this project become a high volume, high quality and sustainable eye centre in two years time.

RTS Objectives

• By January 2008, only six months after its inauguration the hospital has already preformed 2,500 operations.

• RTS will work with Grace Vision to increase to 5,000 cataract operations and 50,000 outpatient visits per year by 2009.