To expand Aravind's eye care services to a wider community, LAICO continuously supports initiatives that enhances eye care delivery across the globe. During the past year, LAICO, as a WHO Collaborating Centre, conducted a two-day consultation focused on improving access to and the quality of eye care services. The consultation aimed to achieve the Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) and Effective Refractive Error Coverage (eREC) targets by 2030, emphasising the need for provider-led efforts, system-wide improvements, and ongoing collaboration among stakeholders.
 copy.jpg)
As part of its capacity-building efforts, LAICO partnered with hospitals in Rajasthan, Ghana, and Rwanda for vision-building workshops and assessments. Follow-up visits were also conducted at six hospitals across India to provide ongoing mentoring and support.
.jpg)
LAICO’s LEAP Collaborative series supported hospitals in enhancing quality and outcomes. In 2024, five hospitals joined the NABH Collaborative, with four achieving Entry-Level Accreditation. The ECSO LEAP helped 11 hospitals improve cataract outcomes, achieving 89% success in 42,230 surgeries. Another LEAP series focused on expanding access to cataract and refractive services. Details are available in the PDF version.
.jpg)
As part of its consultancy efforts, LAICO supported key initiatives to strengthen eye care services. It partnered with the Lions Council of India and LCIF on a three-year project to enhance five Lions Eye Hospitals, and with Sightsavers to boost public-private partnerships in low-CSR districts. LAICO also hosted teams from Ghana, Ethiopia, and Nepal for an immersion programme on the Aravind model in August–September 2024.
.jpg)
LAICO held a two-day consultation on 29–30 November 2024 to address gaps in cataract surgery and refractive error coverage, aiming to meet eCSC and eREC targets by 2030. With 29 participants from India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, the event led to strategic action plans shared with WHO and key stakeholders.
For more details on LAICO, kindly click here