From Medical Consultant's Desk
Dr. Asim Kumar Sil
During 1990s Eastern part of India was quite underdeveloped in the field of eye care. Sightsavers International (Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind) took active interest in developing few Eye care centres in West Bengal. They donated major equipments, mobilized HR and management consultancy support for the organization. The hospital proactively tried to reach out to people to deliver quality comprehensive eye care services at an affordable cost. Since beginning valuable guidance came from Aravind Eye Care System. Initial challenge was getting trained technical persons to assist the ophthalmologists. Training the local youth was the only solution to the problem. Gradually NNN became a training centre and received affiliation from Vidyasagar University, State Medical Faculty of West Bengal and West Bengal University of Technology.
Within 5 years it became a major player in eye care in the region. Gradually sub-specialties got added, population based research activities started and the network widened. NNN has participated in all population based blindness surveys in India since 2001.
Orbis made a significant contribution in developing our services for children. SEVA Foundation opened a new frontier in the field of capacity building for likeminded organizations through voluntary consultancy and mentoring.
The four main pillars of the organization continue to be compassionate care, comprehensive service, the culture of giving through teaching and proactively reaching out to people.