Smt. K.K Shylaja, Hon’ble Minister for Health and Family Welfare

Dr. Amar Agarwal, Chairman, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital

Dr Jay Mathew, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital

Dr. Adil Agarwal, CEO, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital

Father John Thomas, Karunya Vishranthi

Ladies and Gentlemen,

       I am happy to inaugurate the Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.  It is always re-assuring to see new medical facilities coming up with more advanced technologies that help to ensure better health to citizens.

       I, therefore, compliment Dr. Amar Agarwal for establishing this Hospital as a centre that provides advanced eye care through the most advanced technology. I am aware that the Dr. Agarwal Group of Hospitals is one of the premier eye hospitals in India, credited to be the pioneer of many innovations in Eye care. Established by the internationally renowned Dr. J. Agarwal, this hospital was the first to have Micro Phakonit Cataract Surgery, Zyoptic correction of Myopia and many other novel facilities. The innovative contributions and services of Dr. J. Agarwal had also earned him a Padma Bhushan at the hands of the President of India.

       The ability to see is undoubtedly one of the greatest blessings in our life. In songs and stories, the eyes are often described as the most beautiful part of a human body. But, the real beauty of the eyes is in their power of enabling us to see and enjoy the beauty of the world around us.  It is rightly said that one knows the value of eyes only when one is deprived of them.

        Impaired vision is one of the major hurdles in the development of a person, but we know of many people who have overcome their visual impairment to live a normal life and sometimes, to excel in different fields including Law, literature and academics. However, vision impairment is now seen as an avoidable health issue. We have many methods of treatment including transplant to handle issues related to visual impairment.

      As per the Census of 2011, there are around 52 lakh people with visual disability in our country. Though it is a very large number, it marks an improvement in comparison with the figure of the Census of 2001. This reduction has resulted from the dedicated efforts of our eye hospitals in the last two decades to prevent and cure blindness and other forms of visual impairment in people.

       Most of you would be aware that Kerala, whose human development index has always been at par with that of developed nations, is now gearing up to handle the issue of visual impairment in its Sustainable development goals. At present, Kerala hopes to reduce the prevalence of blindness due to uncorrected refractive errors and cataract by 25% in the coming years. We also expect to bring about a 25% reduction in blindness due to eye injuries and vision impairment caused by diabetic retinopathy.

Glaucoma is another major cause of worry where the patient loses eyesight within a short time mainly due to ignorance and negligence. Data shows that approximately 11.2 million persons above 40 years of age are affected with glaucoma in India. Even small children are being affected with glaucoma which has become very common and so creating awareness will be a major step towards prevention of this disease.

       To achieve these ambitious goals, we need the active involvement and services of the private enterprises in the health sector also. It is here that hospitals like Dr. Agarwal's Hospital should come forward to help. The advanced technology that you establish and make use of should also benefit people who are financially backward. Conducting eye camps in rural areas where there are no hospitals around and in Government schools and colleges on some special occasions will help identify and treat the major eye diseases on an early stage itself.  I hope Dr. Agarwal's Hospital will devise schemes to make that happen.

       Like in many other issues, awareness is the key to treatment of visual impairment also. Many people are not aware of the vision related problems they or their children face. As an institution with a positive outlook towards corporate social responsibility, it would be good if you could volunteer to help people by conducting awareness camps on the importance of vision, new trends in treatment, Eye donations etc.

       I hope Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital would win the confidence of the people of Kerala by becoming a trusted centre that provides quality treatment with the touch of expertise and warmth.

I wish this institution a bright future in Thiruvananthapuram.

Thank You

Jai Hind