Making Sight Affordable (Part I): Aurolab Pioneers Production of Low-Cost Technology for Cataract Surgery

Blindness from causes treatable by modern medicine afflicts millions of people every year. Cataracts, the single largest cause of preventable blindness, can be treat- ed by a simple and quick surgical procedure that restores sight; sadly, extreme poverty and its consequences limit access to the medical technologies and infra- structure needed for the surgery. As a result, the crush of blindness continues unabated worldwide. In theory, the solution to this public challenge seems simple: increase access to care and reduce the cost of the medical technologies needed to restore sight enough to permit cataract surgery to be performed on a mass scale (see inset text box "The Burden of Blindness"). In practice, in the one place where the goal of restoring sight affordably to the many has been achieved, success has required three decades of effort by a dedicated team led by a visionary leader: Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy, an ophthalmic surgeon in Madurai, India. The living legacy of Dr. Venkataswamy's leadership is the Aravind Eye Care System, one of the largest eye care systems in the world, with five hospitals in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu, together performing over 200,000 cataract surgeries a year. Dr. Venkataswamy refused to accept that people must remain blind solely because they lack money. His thirty-year crusade has addressed the financial, organizational, and technological barriers to affordable eye care treatment.