A network of hospitals of the Aravind Eye Care System carries out around 500,000 surgeries a year while providing free services to those in need. The efficient network of Aravind got its inspiration from the highly effective assembly line model of McDonald’s.
Govindappa Venkataswamy, the doctor who set up Aravind, said after learning the economies of scale of fast-food chains, “If McDonald's can do it for hamburgers, why can't we do it for eye care?"
More than a quarter of the world’s population suffers from vision impairment, and about a half of it is preventable but untreated according to the World Health Organization. In India, around 10 million people are blind and about 50 million are suffering from visual impairments, with cataracts being the predominant cause.
The model used by Aravind proved to be a success with its wide reach in India. An example of a recipient of the hospital’s free services is Venkatachalam Rajangam. "I thought the operation would be for an hour but within 15 minutes everything was over. But it didn't feel rushed. The procedure was done properly," he said after the “Mcsurgery”.
Images: Arun Sankar/AFP