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Orbis, a non-profit organization with a focus on mitigating preventable blindness, has taken a step further in its fight against childhood blindness in India, and launched a new Children’s Eye Center (CEC) at Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
In 2002, Orbis launched its flagship program, India Childhood Blindness Initiative (ICBI) aimed at building India’s capacity in pediatric eye care. As part of ICBI, Children’s Eye Centers (CECs) were established across the country to ensure that children receive timely access to quality eye care.
Till date, 33 CECs have been established across 17 states. This is the largest national network of CECs in the world and reaches out to over a million children every year. This CEC at Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital is the first CEC at a secondary center and the fourth in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
This initiative will focus on improving the capacity of the secondary hospital and developing service delivery, particularly by creating the Children’s Eye Center. During the project period, support will be provided for 450 pediatric surgeries and the provision of 10,700 free spectacles and directly reaching out to over 260,000 children.
“The start of the CEC at Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital, Saharanpur reiterates SCEH’s & Orbis’s commitment to effectively manage pediatric eye related anomalies at community level,” said Dr. Umang Mathur, CEO, Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital.
“This is CEC is unique in its way being the first CEC at secondary center with will further eliminate the barrier in access and bring eye health services within the communities’ reach,” said Dr. Doris Macharia, Senior Vice President, Global Programs, Orbis International.
“This initiative also testament to Orbis’s longstanding partnership with Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, testament to the transformation that can be brought about by collaborative action,” said Dr. Rishi Raj Borah, Country Director – India, Orbis.