19 Feb 2015|Gurgaon (Manesar) | AMITY UNIVERSITY GURGAON
Prof Kovin Naidoo of International agency for preventable blindness, Africa visited Amity Unviersity Gurgaon
Prof Kovin Naidoo, Board member and Director of Global Programs at the Brien Holden Vision Institute visited Amity University Gurgaon on 19/02/15. He was accompanied by Mr Vinod Daniel, CEO of India Vision Institute. Prof Kovin is a distinguished educator, public health leader and researcher widely respected all over the world. He has done pioneering work in his efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness in the world .He is also the chairperson of International Agency for Preventable Blindness (Africa). Prof Kovin visited Amity to give a talk on “Prospects of Optometrists in the field of Public Health – A Global Perspective”. He said that as per the latest data, of the 223.4 million people with visual impairment in the world today, 32.4 million were blind and the rest had moderate to severe visual impairment. He emphasised that uncorrected refractive error is the second major cause of avoidable blindness in the world. He emphasised that ptometrists can play a major part in solving this problem as they are qualified to prescribe spectacles and thus can eliminate the avoidable blindness caused due to it. He also mentioned that by the year 2020, 2.5 billion persons will be having myopia (minus refractive error). Mr Vinod Daniel talked about the role of India Vision Institute in furthering the cause of optometry, in India by providing technical support and resource materials. Dr PB Sharma, the Vice Chancellor of the University welcomed them and stressed that there is a lot of scope and promise in doing interdisciplinary research in optometry. He assured of all help in doing this at AUG. Maj Gen (Dr) Mahavir Singh, dean of the Medical School at Amity talked about the need to reduce avoidable blindness in the community. Prof Monica Chaudhry, HOD of Department of Optometry and Vision Science, Amity University thanked Prof Kovin and Mr Vinod Daniel for taking out time and visiting the university. Dr Sumit Grover, ophthalmologist from Gurgaon also took time out of his busy schedule to attend the talk. Prof Kovin and Mr Vinod Daniel then had an interaction with the students on their perspectives and experiences about optometry. They also clarified the doubts of the students regarding various options that were available after completing their education. This was followed by a visit to the Clinic of the Department of Optometry and Vision Science, Amity University. There they admired the various facilities available in the clinic. They also appreciated the various models displayed by the students, especially the model eye made for retinoscopy and the near vision tester. The day ended with them promising to visit the university again as soon as they could.