RGCT's healthcare interventions include the Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital & Research Centres, and the Rajiv Gandhi Arogya Yojna.
Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital & Research Centres
Inadequate development of human resources and infrastructure in UP has resulted in gross under delivery of quality eye care in the state, especially to the poor. To overcome this problem, RGCT joined hands with Aravind Eye Care System (AECS) to develop better eye care infrastructure and eliminate needless blindness in Northern India. Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai was started by Padmashri Dr G. Venkataswamy in 1976 with the mission "To eradicate needless blindness by providing appropriate, compassionate and high quality eye care for all". Aravind Eye Hospitals are charitable organisations run by the Govel Trust. AECS today serves 16,00,000 outpatients and performs 225,000 surgeries; 300 ophthalmologists and 600 paramedical workers are trained every year both in short- and long-term training in different sub specialties of ophthalmology. This makes Aravind the largest provider of eye care in the world both in terms of service and training.
Indira Gandhi Eye Hospital & Research Centre (IGEH&RC), Amethi: Located in Munshiganj, Amethi, was established by RGCT to serve the eye care needs of people residing in the nearby areas. IGEH&RC was inaugurated on December 4, 2005 by Mrs Sonia Gandhi. The hospital is a 106-bedded facility covering approximately 20,000 square feet. The hospital serves a population of 23 million people from six districts. It has experienced rapid growth in all aspects in a very short span of time, and handled 1,87,460 outpatient visits and performed 32,682 surgeries from December 2005 to November 2008. Its specialty clinic include: Cataract/ General Ophthalmology; Glaucoma; and Medical Retina.
IGEH&RC, Lucknow: Having succeeded considerably in providing quality eye care services at Amethi, RGCT opened its tertiary eye hospital at Lucknow in May 2008. The Lucknow hospital is a 200-bedded facility covering approximately 50,000 square feet. The hospital serves a population of 20 million people from seven districts of UP. It is estimated that the hospital shall see 150,000 outpatients and 12,000 inpatients in the first year. It also plans to target 100 eye screening camps per year in the future. Its specialty clinic include: Cataract/ General Ophthalmology; Glaucoma; Cornea; Pediatric Ophthalmology; Retina and Vitreous; and Cornea.
Community Outreach: An integral part of IGEHRC is its community outreach programmes such as screening eye camps, school eye health programme, village volunteer programme -- all of which provide different strategies for taking eye care service to the doorstep of the community. They provide curative, preventive and rehabilitative care to the community along with information, education & communication (IEC) programmes to improve service delivery to potential patients in the community.
Through free eye camps, medical teams from each hospital reach patients in rural areas. The teams work closely with local community leaders and service groups to organise the camps. Six camps a week are organised. Till November 2008, a total of 514 camps were conducted, at which 89,840 patients were examined and 26,840 site restoration surgeries performed. The medical team is also involved in educating the local community in the maintenance of proper eye care. Towards this end, the staff is currently implementing several comprehensive eye care projects. These projects include screening for diabetes-related eye disorders, eye screening at schools and treatment of children suffering from refractive errors, strabismus and Vitamin A deficiency. By bringing eye care services directly to the community, IGEHRC makes a significant contribution towards reducing needless blindness.
Apart from screening camps, other outreach activities include:
• Community-based Comprehensive Rehabilitation Programme
• School Children Screening
• Refraction Camps
• Diabetic Retinopathy Detection and Awareness Camps
Rajiv Gandhi Arogya Yojna
Rajiv Gandhi Arogya Yojna (RAY) came into existence in December 2005 to provide free medical aid to the poor people of Amethi district. It runs 16 clinics in the area in collaboration with Asia Heart Foundation which manages these clinics. They function as open patient departments (OPDs) which provide consultancy, treatment and free medicine for minor ailments, referring advanced and complicated cases to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Munshiganj. Each clinic is manned by an MBBS doctor, and equipped with ECG facilities as well as capacity to administer the DOTS treatment for tuberculosis. Two clinics provide telemedicine facilities in association with Naraina Hrydalaya, Bangalore. An average of 30,000 to 40,000 patients per month avail of free healthcare at these clinic.