The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) is an eye-care network, established by Dr. Gullapalli Nageswara Rao, an ophthalmologist, at

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

, in 1987. It is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

, multi-campus,

non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

institution. With more than 200 eye-care centres in India, it is the largest eye-care network in the world. LVPEI is a

World Health Organization (WHO) The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

collaborating centre, and an affiliate hospital of

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. It is accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH).

Establishment

Established in 1987, L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness, is a comprehensive eye health facility. The institute has ten active arms to its areas of operations: Clinical Services, Education, Research, Vision Rehabilitation, Rural and Community Eye Health, Eye Banking, Advocacy and Policy Planning, Capacity Building, Innovation and Product Development. LVPEI is managed by two not-for-profit entities – Hyderabad Eye Institute (HEI) and Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation (HERF). The beginning, before the brick and mortar of the institute, the renowned Indian film-maker Sri Akkineni Lakshmi Vara Prasad Rao, popularly known as L V Prasad, decided to invest a part of the profits of his blockbuster film "Ek Duje Ke Liye" for a worthy cause. He donated rupees one crore and five acres of land for establishing the state-of-the-art Eye Institute. In recognition of this gesture, the board of the institute decided to name the institute after him. Over the years, his family has continued to support the institute's work. His son, Mr Ramesh Prasad, managing director of Prasad Film Laboratories, is a founder trustee of LVPEI and is the longest serving member of the Hyderabad Eye Institute's governing board, along with Dr Rao.

Active areas of operation

Clinical Services

LVPEI has served nearly 23.8 million people, with over 50% of them entirely free of cost, irrespective of the complexity of care needed. The institute offers rehabilitation services for persons with visually impairment, and in 2018 it inaugurated a 'Special Needs Vision Clinic' to provide eye care to children with developmental delays and disabilities.

Research

On 1 June 2012, LVPEI Head of Research, Prof. Balasubranian, said that the institute was conducting research on

gene therapy Gene therapy is a medical field which focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce a therapeutic effect or the treatment of disease by repairing or reconstructing defective genetic material. The first attempt at modifying human DN ...

to correct genetic retinal disorders and that gene delivery into the eye could happen in 1–2 years.

Centers

LVPEI network: * Main center in Banjara Hills, named after Kallam Anji Reddy the founder of Dr.Reddy Labs. * 3 tertiary centers in Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar and Vijayawada. * 20 secondary centers * 185 primary care centers The secondary and primary care centers provide medical facilities to the remotest rural areas of the country.

Eye bank

As of 2020, LVPEI Eye Bank Network has been performing over 2,000 corneal transplant surgeries every year. Until December 2020, total corneas collected was 107,75, with the cornea collected over 38,655 corneal transplant surgeries have been performed at the institute, which may be the highest at a single institute anywhere in the world. The RIEB set up the

Cornea Preservation Medium Centre which uses a McKarey Kauffman (MK) Medium.

Awards

* Greenberg Prize – End Blindness 2020 *Sarojini Triloknath National Award 2020

References

{{authority control Ophthalmology organizations Healthcare in Hyderabad, India Hospitals in Hyderabad, India Hospitals in Visakhapatnam Eye care in India Hospitals established in 1987 1987 establishments in Andhra Pradesh