Chennai-based eye institution and medical research foundation, Sankara Nethralaya, has signed an agreement with the Mauritian government to set up a hospital at Souillac, Mauritius. The new hospital is expected to commence operations in October this year. The facility will offer ophthalmic care to people from Mauritius as well as from neighbouring countries, according to a release.
Thirty-year-old Sankara Nethralaya has been receiving patients from Mauritius on a regular basis for the past 8 years. On an average, it gets 7–8 patients with retinal diseases every week.
To be able to serve the patients of Mauritius better and to eliminate the need for them to be transported here, the Mauritian government invited Sankara Nethralaya to start a branch, the release stated.
Sankara Nethralaya would also be involved in training healthcare professionals in ophthalmology and optometry apart from carrying out research into causation of diabetic retinopathy.