Cataracts
- Over 22 million people in India suffer from it.
- Over 12 million become blind because of it.
Barsana
Barsana is an ancient holy town in Uttar Pradesh, North India, about 150 km from Delhi. It is surrounded by a cluster of 120 villages.
- The inhabitants are riddled with poverty.
- Access roads are poor and public transport irregular.
- Medical facilities are scanty.
- 50,000 people in the area have no access to a hospital and live below the poverty line.
- Many go blind due to cataract.
Results
Every year since 1992, Bhaktivedanta Hospital has organized a free cataract surgery camp for the villagers of the Barsana area.
- Over 33,000 patients have been screened so far
- More than 4000 patients have been operated successfully
Services Rendered
- Cataract Surgery with IOL (Intra Ocular Lens)
- Modern standards of operation theatres
- Thorough preoperative checkup
- Swiss Operating Microscopes (ZEISS)
- Food and accommodation for the patient plus one relative for three days
- Free hot snacks for all during O.P.D. days
- Upon discharge:
- Eyedrops and medicine for 40 days
- One pair of dark glasses
- One woollen blanket
- First followup after four days
- Final followup after 40 days
Operation Theatre
All the required equipment, medicine, lenses, and microscopes are transported from Mumbai to Barsana. Volunteers combine efforts to build a fully-equipped, sterile operation theatre for two weeks.
Children and other patients requiring specialized care beyond the scope of the camp facilities are sent to Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai, operated on, then sent back to Barsana, free of charge.
Volunteers
Every year, the following team assembles for the Eye Camp:
- 12 ophthalmologists
- 40 doctors
- 150 volunteers
Dental camps have also been conducted for the last five years:
- 6 dentists
- 15 volunteers
- 800 patients
Vision Care
The Bhaktivedanta Hospital has opened a permanent Vision Centre at Barsana. Featuring an operation theatre and OPD, it aims to treat 3800 patients annually.
Testimonies
“It has been my privilege for the last 14 years to have known the doctors and staff of the Bhaktivedanta Hospital, Mumbai. What better a gift to give than the gift of sight to someone, who ordinarily could not afford it? I urge you from the bottom of my heart to please support this worthy endeavor.”
“The Barsana Eye Camp organized by Bhaktivedanta Hospital is a very wonderful project. It is very dear to my heart and when I see this wonderful service given by the doctors from Bombay and the 200 volunteers who come there leaving everything aside for a period of 15 days and the kind of care and attention they give to the patients there, it really is something amazing. My family, my company, “The Arvind Mafatlal Group”, and myself are deeply committed to this project.”
“I have had the good fortune of being associated with the Barsana Eye Camp since ever its conception and I would strongly recommend it to all of you.It is an Eye Camp where compassion and care is distributed. It is also an Eye Camp where all the money you donate is directly given for the benefit of the patients without any administrative overheads.”
“My focus was on the improvement of the state of the invalid & retarded children. We made the program and the present facility in the name of Mahendra Prakash Tarawati Mahesh Rehabilitation Centre was established… up to date thousands of children have been benefited.”
