Title:
India's Aravind Eye Care System Gets Hilton Prize
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
An eye care organization in India has been honored
for its efforts to treat the poor and prevent
blindness. Aravind Eye Care System received the
Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize. The award was
presented in Redwood City, California, during a
conference of the Global Philanthropy Forum.
Conrad Hilton, who made his wealth in the hotel
industry,
established the humanitarian prize in nineteen
ninety-six. Each year the award is given to a
charitable or nongovernmental organization working
to end human suffering.
The prize includes one and a half million dollars.
Aravind Eye Care System was recognized for its work
with millions of people in India.
Retired eye surgeon
Govindappa Venkataswamy
established the organization in nineteen
seventy-six. He wanted to make high quality eye care
available to all, especially India's poor.
He wanted to prevent needless
cases of blindness.
Eight out of ten people with vision problems live in
developing countries. The World Health Organization
says eighty-five percent of all vision problems
could be prevented or cured.
That includes seventy-five percent of all blindness.
An estimated forty-five million people are blind,
and India is home to ten million of them.
Doctor Venkataswamy established the first Aravind
Eye Hospital in Madurai, in Tamil Nadu state, with
only eleven beds. Today Aravind Eye Care System is
the largest eye care provider in the world. It
operates five hospitals and more than thirty eye
care centers across India.
About seventy percent of the patients receive free
care.
The money comes from the
thirty percent of patients who can pay for their
services.
In nineteen ninety-two, Aravind established what was
described as Asia's first training center for the
prevention of blindness.
Support from the SightFirst program of Lions Club
International financed the Lions Aravind Institute
of Community Ophthalmology.
Also, the Aravind Medical Research Foundation
investigates the causes and treatment of eye
disease.
Aravind Eye Care System has been recognized
internationally.
Its work has been used as a model for establishing
similar programs around the world.
And that's the VOA Special English Development
Report. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts are at
voaspecialenglish.com.
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
and iTunes at
VOA Learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
To post a comment:
• Click "Comment using..." in
the window below
• Click your favorite service: Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail
• Login to the service
• Click "Add a comment..."
• Post your comment in the window
Students: Please post a
comment stating what you found interesting about this video. You are
welcome to include links to your English study blogs and any
other materials you think might be useful for learning
English.
Teachers: Please post your
thoughts about this video. You are welcome to include links to
your sites, blogs, and any other materials you think might
be useful for learning English.
Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
