Mangaluru: The Kasturba Medical College (KMC) Department of Ophthalmology organised a programme commemorating World Sight Day at the KMC Hospital, Attavar on Thursday, October 10. The event also celebrated the acquisition of a new Optical Coherence Tomography Angioplex machine for the department.
Former HOD, professor, and veteran ophthalmologist Dr C R Kamath was the chief guest of the event and KMC (Mangaluru) Dean Dr Venkatraya Prabhu was the guest of honour.
After inaugurating the occasion with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp, Department of Ophthalmology head Dr Shobha G Pai welcomed the gathering. Briefing the audience on the WHO initiative, Dr Pai informed that the underlying theme adopted for this World Sight Day was “Vision First”.
In his address, Dr Kamath fondly reminisced over his time as a professor and later, the HOD of the department. He said, “The spark of KMC is still in my heart. It was the best part of my life. When I joined the department in 1969 or so, we had only a torchlight and very few microscopes. I don’t know how we operated but we did and they were all successful. From those days to today, it has been a quantum leap for the department.”
“You PGs don’t know how lucky you are. I pay tribute to the teachers and management of the department for their efforts,” he added.
Addressing the gathering, Dr Venkatraya Prabhu, who is a former student of Dr Kamath, said that he always used to look forward to his classes. “He (Dr Kamath) was one of the most student-friendly teachers and was always known for his BBC voice and Queen’s English. His classes were always more than just Ophthalmology,” he added.
Mentioning the history associated with the World Sight Day, Dr Prabhu recalled the contributions of Sir John Wilson, a British public health advocate who worked relentlessly for the visually handicapped and was blind himself, owing to a tragic accident in a chemical laboratory.
New OCT – Angioplex equipment
In order to better educate the audience on the newly-acquired Optical Coherence Tomography Angioplex machine, Assistant Professor Dr Gladys Rodrigues delivered a presentation that highlighted the specifics and advantages of the equipment.
The new OCT- Angioplexy is a sophisticated machine that uses a non-injective, dye-less procedure to detect retinal diseases. Due to the absence of a dye, which is known to cause nausea or allergic reactions in patients, the new machine makes it possible to scan the eye of diabetic and kidney patients as well. Furthermore, the entire scanning procedure can be carried out in just one or two minutes, thanks to the new equipment.
Associate Professor Dr Rajesh Nayak compered the programme and delivered the vote of thanks.
KMC Hospital (Ambedkar Circle) Clinical Services Regional Chief Dr Anand Venugopal, KMC Hospital (Attavar) Medical Superintendent Dr John Ramapuram, Ophthalmology Department faculty members, post-graduate and under-graduate students were present at the event.
