Global Honour for LVPEI Founder “World EyeCon21 Award”
Hyderabad: Dr Gullapalli N Rao, Founder of the L V Prasad Eye Institute, was honoured along with 23 other most influential ophthalmologists around the world with the “World EyeCons21” award at the 39th Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) meeting in Bali, Indonesia. He was ranked among the top 10 in this group for his exceptional contributions to shaping the world of eye care in the 21st century. This was the inaugural award initiated by the Asia Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (APJO). Dr Rao is the first and only Indian to be selected for this recognition.
Dr Rao was the former Chair of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) in which role he led the Global VISION 2020: The Right to Sight along with the World Health Organization (WHO), and the former President of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI), a group of the 80 most eminent academicians in ophthalmology. He received numerous honours from all over the world in his illustrious career including induction into the “Ophthalmology Hall of Fame”.
About LVPEI: 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 functional 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. The LVPEI Eye Care Network has 290 Centres spread across Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Karnataka in India. The institute’s mission is to provide equitable and quality eye care to all sections of society. The LVPEI’s five-tier ‘Eye Health Pyramid’ model, covering all areas of the community right from the villages to the city, provides high quality and comprehensive – prevention, curative, and rehabilitation – eye care to all. It has served over 36.89 million (3 crores 68 lakh people), with more than 50% entirely free of cost, irrespective of the complexity of care needed.
