Verified · Jul 20261 min read
● projectScaled · national · 1976
Aravind Eye Care System
System of eye hospitals founded in 1976 by Dr. G. Venkataswamy in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to eliminate avoidable blindness.
illustrative atlas image · Maksim Goncharenok / Pexels01 The context
It combines high-volume, assembly-line cataract surgery (with paramedical staff performing lower-complexity steps), cross-subsidy (paying patients subsidize free/subsidized care, ~60% of volume), rural eye camps and in-house manufacturing of low-cost intraocular lenses (Aurolab, founded 1992). Clinical quality is equivalent between paying and free patients. In 2026 it celebrates its 50th anniversary (Golden Jubilee).
02 How it works
03 What it stands on
Evidence level
Own experience
Grounded in published theory
Documented evidence elsewhere
Independently evaluated here
Peer-reviewed research documents this project: the strongest evidence level in the atlas.
The evidence 2 ›
EvidenceEfficient high-volume cataract services: the Aravind modelCommunity Eye Health Journal (PMC) · 2014
EvidenceAravind Eye Hospital (Audacious Philanthropy case study)Bridgespan Group · 2017