Sankara Eye Hospital in Bangalore

This morning, Friday, March 6, Sheila, Adrienne's host and IT corridor Rotarian, brought us to see the Sankara Eye Hospital in Whitefield. Opened on March 9, 2008, it now screens 50,000 children/year and does 25,000 eye surgeries/year.
One-fifth of the world's blind people live in India. Over 40 million people are considered "vision handicapped" in this country. One can easily understand the tremendous work to be done.

Infosys, Rotary International and many other organizations support this network of 8 Sankara eye hospitals around India. The Sankara Foundation in San Jose, California is also a huge financial supporter.
The IT Corridor Rotary club donated a vision screening and transportation bus for the hospital's use in the rural villages of the state of Karnataka.

Patients are divided into either the "paying" or "non-paying" wings of the eye hospital. Almost 80% of the patients receive free eye treatments and surgeries with 20% paying their own way. Below you see the non-paying patients waiting their treatments. "Medical tourism" has also caught on in India because of the lower costs.

"Vision 20/20 by 2020" is this hospital's long-term vision.