Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya was established in Guwahati in the year 1994 by Sri Kanchi Sankara Health And Educational Foundation, a registered charitable trust formed under the aegis and with the blessings of Their Holiness – Jagadguru Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal and Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam, Kancheepuram - with a mission to provide quality eye care services - through state-of-the-art facilities - to the people of the region at affordable cost and equal quality treatment, free of cost, to economically unprivileged patients who cannot afford the cost of treatment.
The Structured Community Outreach Program of SSDN was inaugurated by the then Governor of Assam, Late Lokanath Misra on 26th of March 1996. The Institute of Community Ophthalmology is dedicated for rendering ‘Community Services’ to BPL (Below Poverty Line) category patients which includes - conducting screening camps, case detection at doorsteps in rural areas, two-way transportation, treatment/surgery, food, lodging, distribution of prescribed medicines and dispensation of spectacles – all of which are provided to patients Below Poverty Line, totally free of cost.
To cater to the community and their eye care needs, the Institute of Community Ophthalmology was established in 2014 in a newly constructed building at 243, Basistha Road, a campus 900 meters away from the SSDN Main Hospital. Earlier, the community activities were managed from the SSDN Main Campus.
In 2014, SSDN implemented a unique program, namely - “HOSPITAL BASED COMMUNITY EYE HEALTH PROGRAM (HBCEHP)”. This program integrates Primary Eye Care Services (PEC) with Primary Health Care Services (PHC). Under this program SSDN adopted a total number of 178 villages in the Sonapur area under Dimoria Development Block, Kamrup Metro, Assam, along with a Vision Center (Primary Eye Care & Base Hospital Referral Center) which was established for rendering service to the poor & underprivileged patients, free of cost. After the successful implementation of HBCEHP, several other similar programs, under the name - “VISION CENTER BASED COMMUNITY EYE HEALTH PROGRAM (VCBCEHP)” were implemented by adopting another 773 villages (Total 951 villages) at Bijoynagar, Hajo, Sualkuchi, Morigaon, Mangaldoi, Bongaigaon and Nagaon, with several new projects also in the pipeline.
The Institute of Community Ophthalmology (ICO) has a structured outreach and reach-in program. Under this program, comprehensive screening is done at the door step in the far flung and inaccessible areas of North East India.
The patients requiring surgery are then transported to the SSDN Main Hospital and after the surgery the patients are dropped back at their respective villages (two way transportation). The entire activity & services comprise of advocacy, screening, two way transportation, surgery, food and lodging. The total cost is borne by the Institution for the patients Below Poverty Line (BPL).
The Institution also has a program for distribution of free spectacles to patients suffering from Refractive Error. The Institute of Community Ophthalmology regularly conducts public awareness, preventive programs and IEC activities so that the community can maintain positive eye health seeking behavior. Similarly, the special programs on pediatric eye care like School Screening, Training for the Multipurpose Paramedical Workers, Optometry Students, ONA and Nurses practical internship of other institutions, School Teachers Training Programs, ASHA/ICDS/COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER/Social Workers Training Programs, Assam Sarba Shiksha employees etc. are regularly conducted. Under our Community Service program we serve 50% of our patients free of cost. For Lower Middle Class people the institution has introduced several subsidized surgical packages through its Vision Centers situated in rural areas of Assam
Individual Donors and NGO Collaboration At the outset, Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya (SSDN) is extremely grateful and appreciative to all its Individual Donors for their generous philanthropic donations and contributions towards the treatment of needy patients. Their contributions have gone a long way in bringing relief to the poor and needy sections of society and has greatly reduced their suffering, and brought a smile to their faces. Moreover, for effective and comprehensive service, Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya has also collaborated with several International, National and Regional NGOs which have been listed below –
SSDN has also collaborated with the National Program for Control of Blindness and Visual Impairment (NPCB & VI), Govt. of Assam; National Health Mission, Assam; Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana; Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, etc.
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