Reflections on Aravind Eye Hospital and the Gates Award

Congratulations to Aravind Eye Hospital for being awarded the 2008 Gates Award for Public Health, which carries a $1 million prize. Aravind joins rare company – previous winners of the Gates Award include the Rotary Foundation, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, The Carter Center and other public health luminaries.

The award is well-deserved. We have known Aravind since Acumen Fund was first established, and although Aravind was one of the first organizations supported by us, it is Acumen Fund who stands proudly on the shoulders of Aravind and not the other way around. Dr. Venkataswamy, who sadly passed away in 2006, founded Aravind in 1976 at the age of 58. His goal: eradicate needless blindness in India.

Dr. V. and his team – mostly family members, including his seven younger siblings – focused on using a rigorous, market-oriented approach to delivering basic services to all people, including the poorest. A sliding scale pricing system enables those who pay to subsidize the cost for those without the means to afford Aravind’s services. Aravind also re-engineered the intra-ocular lens to make it more universally affordable. And critically, the operations are driven by a culture of compassion, respect and dignity for all – and you can feel these values in the hospital’s very halls.

Acumen Fund supported Aravind in 2002 to experiment with building a telemedicine network that would allow doctors at Aravind’s five main hospitals to serve low-income people living in rural areas. Today, Aravind serves more than 2.3 million outpatients and performs 270,000 surgeries annually through its network of hospitals and clinics – making it the world’s largest provider of eye care. Even more staggering is the fact that two-thirds of the outpatient visits and three-quarters of the surgeries were provided to poor clients, at no cost. These milestones are a testament to a system that is both efficient and just.

Dr. Venkataswamy and the Aravind team had a profound effect on me personally. Through knowing this remarkable team, I’ve tried to live more fully the idea that we can hold the discipline of the market and deep compassion at the same time. I’ve worked harder to emphasize the dignity of work. At a very personal level, I think often of what Dr. V. often said: that we can integrate divinity into our lives through not only what we do, but how we do it. It has been such a gift to know this institution.

All of us at Acumen Fund are cheering for the wonderful team at Aravind and look forward to its continued success.