More than 70% of India’s population lives in rural areas, with little access to eye care. Aravind’s Rural Vision Centers providing comprehensive eye care services to a population of 50,000 to 70,000. Each center is staffed by a highly trained ophthalmic technician who provides eye examinations, dispenses eye glasses, and treats minor ailments and injuries. Via a web cam and broadband Internet connection, patients are examined by doctors and specialists at Aravind Eye Hospitals.

Each centre costs $15,000 to establish and operate for the first two years. But after two years, the Rural Vision Centres are self-sustaining, primarily from examination fees and sales of spectacles, providing a permanent eye care facility for India’s poorest communities without additional external funding.

Click here to learn more about Aravind’s community outreach. If you want to build a vision centre and provide eye care to an entire village, please email info@aravindeyefoundation.org