Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister and Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister will inaugurate Suraj Eye Institute at MIHAN on Sunday at 11 am at plot number 6, opposite Indian Institute of Management (IIM). This is the first institute dedicated to the eye being opened at MIHAN. The institute will be dedicated to the nation. Dr Francis Hiddema, former Chief Executive Officer of The Rotterdam Eye Hospital, Netherlands; Rajendra Purohit, Chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Nagpur Kendra and Dr Girish Rao, President of Medical Research Foundation, Sankara Netralaya, Chennai will be guests of honour. Dr Roger Hitchings, Professor Emeritus of Glaucoma, Moorfields Eye Hospital, University of London (UK) and Dr Johannes R Vingerling, Professor and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology at Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands will be virtual guests of honour. Dr Vinay Nangia, Chairman, Suraj Eye Institute; Vinod Nangia, Dr S Bhaskaran, Sushil Chhabra, Dr Sarang Lambat, Dr Prabhat Nangia, Dr Nivea Surana, Dr Ravi Daberao have appealed to attend the ceremony.

 

There is a significant need for a Center of Excellence in Ophthalmology in Nagpur and Central India. The Suraj Eye Institute has acquired 4 acres of land in MIHAN. “We aim to accelerate the prevention and control of blindness activities in Central India, especially for Nagpur and districts of Vidarbha where we are already established and working for the last many years. The infrastructure of the institute is designed so that 50 per cent of the eye hospital is devoted to charity patients. There is a special charity consultation area and a charity ward,” he said. Adding further, Dr Nangia said, “The diagnostic areas are shared and the operating rooms are common. For every part of the eye such as cornea, glaucoma, retina, etc, there is a special training and fellowship to spearhead the high-quality practice and eye health delivery. The institute will be a major centre for training postgraduates and fellows in different subspecialties in Central India. The Foundation of the structure has been made so that the institute can rise up to 7 floors and achieve a total built-up area of more than 250,000 sq. feet,” explained Dr Nangia.

 

Dr Nangia who was trained at Harvard in 1992-1993 with a vision to set up a state-of-the-art eye hospital, with special emphasis on community eye care, as such a facility was lacking in Central India and patients would have to travel to Mumbai for their treatment. “In essence, we needed to develop a 'Center of Excellence' in this part of the country. It was also important to have a larger infrastructure if we were to serve the rural communities in a bigger way. As our life expectancy grows, the number of blind and visually impaired are increasing and our clinical services are unable to keep pace with it,” explained Dr Vinay Nangia. Dr Nangia said, “This is an appeal to join us on this mission for the next many years. I request you to donate to our non-profit foundation - Om Drishti Trust. The Suraj Eye Institute is part of the Om Drishti Trust.