Govindappa Venkataswamy

Govindappa Venkataswamy was an Indian ophthalmologist who dedicated his life to eliminate needless blindness. He founded and was the former chairman of "Aravind Eye Hospitals". He is best recognized for inventing a high-quality, high-volume, low-cost service delivery strategy that has helped millions of people regain their sight.

Venkataswamy was born in 1918 in a poor rural community to a farming family. He walked two kilometres to school each day and his early lessons were written in sand from the riverbed. There were no doctors in his village, and he had already lost three cousins to pregnancy-related difficulties by the age of ten. His decision to become a doctor was influenced by his parents tragic demise. Venkataswamy graduated from American College in Madurai with a BSc. Chemistry in 1938. He earned his medical degree from Madras Stanley Medical College in 1944, graduating second in his class. He received his MS in Ophthalmology from the Government Ophthalmic Hospital in Madras in 1951. He was in medical school when his father died, leaving him as the family's head. Venkaraswamy worked as a surgeon in the Indian Army from 1945 to 1948 after earning his medical degree. He was released from the hospital after getting Tare forms of chead arthritis at the age of thirty years.

With his four siblings and their respective spouses, Venkataswamy created the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, in 1976. They established a Trust to operate the hospital and set Aravind's mission: "To eliminate avoidable blindness by delivering high-quality, compassionate eye care that is affordable to all." Venkataswamy is a founder member of Seva Foundation (a non-profit organisation based in the United States), which worked with Aravind in the early years by increasing the organization's access to cutting-edge technology and trained volunteers. Seva and Aravind continue to work together on numerous elements of eye care management, education, and research. He was awarded Padma Shri in 1973. The Aravind Eye Care System now includes seven tertiary centres, six secondary hospitals, six outpatient eye examination centres, and seventy primary eye examination facilities, as well as a post-graduate training institute for ophthalmology, an international eye search centre, eye bank, training and consulting institute, and manufacturing facility.