MHCECC
Miriam Hyman Children's Eye Care Centre
Partnership with the L V Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar, India
The Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre (MHCECC) was inaugurated on 3rd July, 2008 within the two-year-old L V Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar (BLVPEI), Orissa, India (lvpei.org). The MHMT donated essential equipment. Miriam's loved-ones were moved by the suggestion of naming the new Children's Eye Care Centre after her.
The MHMT continues to raise funds to build capacity in the MHCECC and to raise awareness of childhood blindness.
The MHCECC is committed to providing high-quality comprehensive eye care to children, irrespective of their families' ability to pay.
The MHCECC is already making a significant impact on prevention and treatment of eye conditions and rehabilitation of patients. It will continue to do so for thousands of children who would otherwise have little access to eye care.
There is no other paediatric eye care facility in the state of Orissa. The population of Orissa is approximately 50 million (equivalent to that of England). Children under 16 comprise approximately 45% of the total population.
There are approximately eight million blind people in India and one million are under sixteen. Visual impairment has a devastating effect on a child's development, education, life chances and quality of life. There are life-long consequences for the individual, the family and community.
More than fifty per cent of childhood blindness is preventable and treatable. Early diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation can significantly reduce the disabling effects of visual impairment on a growing child's life.
The value of an eye care service for children is measured not only in numbers of children treated, but also by the number of years of avoidable blindness saved through timely intervention, or "blind years".
The L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad was established in 1987. It is a globally recognised Centre of Excellence and a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for the elimination of preventable blindness by the year 2020 through the initiative Vision 2020: The Right to Sight. It is a pioneer in developing eye health models for underserved areas of the developing world.
Read the LVPEI Annual Report, 2008-2009. Pages 14 and 102 refer to the MHCECC
Teaching postgraduate students
The centrifuge in the Pathology Lab
Surgery in the MHMT Operating Room