Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre celebrates golden jubilee

摘要

The establishment of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) was a turning point for high-standard postgraduate training in various medical disciplines in the country. The institute attracted many leading teachers and clinicians for its faculty from medical colleges in India and abroad. There was a congenial atmosphere to excel in all aspects of medical education, clinical services, and research. The Department of Ophthalmology was fortunate to have a man of such far sight in Dr. L. P. Agarwal, who joined the AIIMS as professor of ophthalmology in 1958, followed by Dr. S. R. K. Malik and Dr. Madan Mohan, who joined as assistant professors in 1960. Within 8 years of planning and hard work, the faculty members were sponsored for advanced training abroad in major subspecialties of ophthalmology. Many workshops were organized for training in corneal surgery and eye banking. The National Eye Bank was established in the department in 1964. On its initiation, the “Eyes Act” was passed in 1982 by the Parliament. Prof. Agarwal had a dream vision to moot the idea of developing a “National Institute of Ophthalmology” that would be at the forefront of eye health planning, academics, and clinical care. By the dent of discipline and leadership qualities, he proved to the government the need to establish an institute of ophthalmology. As a result, the Department of Ophthalmology was upgraded and christened as the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences in 1967. Its foundation stone was laid within the campus of AIIMS, by the Hon'ble Vice President of India Dr. Zakir Hussain. “Tamso Ma Jyotirgamaya” (from darkness to light) was adopted as the motto of the Centre. The speed of developments and achievements of the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre in quality postgraduate education, clinical training of residents, and research became the focus areas. The subspecialties of ophthalmology developed through the establishment of specialty clinics. It was a self-learning-cum-teaching experience of the faculty. Advanced diagnostic equipment and ocular laboratories for pathology, biochemistry, and microbiology helped produce original research. Under the auspices of the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Rajendra Prasad Centre leadership conducted a survey (1971–1973) on the prevalence of cataract in seven centers of the country. Based on the results of this groundbreaking study and projecting the financial loss to the Nation, due to avoidable blindness, the Government of India launched the 100% centrally sponsored “National Programme for the Prevention of Visual Impairment and Control of Blindness.” Conscious of the magnitude of the problem of blindness, Prof. Agarwal contributed immensely as the secretary of National Society for the Prevention of Blindness (NPCB) with Dr. Sushila Nayar as the president (1965–1983). They were succeeded by Dr. Madan Mohan as the president and Dr. P. K. Khosla as the secretary (1983–1986). This gave a fresh impetus to the society by amending its constitution. Prof. Agarwal had an ambition to globalize Indian Ophthalmology. He organized Afro-Asian Conference of Ophthalmology and tried to publish the International Journal “Oriental Journal of Ophthalmology” as the editor-in-chief. Most of the research papers got published from India and Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre but did not get the expected response from neighboring countries. Later, he changed the name to “Eastern Archives of Ophthalmology” with new editorial board, but this too could not last long for publication. Publishing a scientific journal on good-quality paper was not commercially viable in the absence of sponsors and was therefore abandoned. The achievements of Prof. Agarwal brought him international recognition and invited him as a member of the Programme Advisory Group of the WHO, Geneva, Switzerland, which lays global strategy for the control of blindness. Change of Guard Prof. Agarwal's dynamism in medical education opened another canvas