Aligarh: Department of Community Medicine of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), which is working under the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB) by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, conducted a seminar on Sentinel Surveillance Unit (SSU). The seminar was need of the hour, considering the increasing rate of blindness and complicated and critical ophthalmology cases.
The main agenda of the seminar was to discuss the various activities/Methodologies, through which a check could be made on the issue of blindness. Various possible techniques and methodology were discussed in order to prevent and control the blindness and other eye disorders. Seminar turned out to be a platform where complicated issues were discussed, resulting into some concrete inferences.
Dr. M. Athar Ansari, coordinator of SSU and the chairman of the Department of Community Medicine, presided over the seminar and greeted the guests and the participants. S. Abrar Hasan, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, also appreciated the efforts of the Department of Community Medicine and SSU. M. Ashraf Malik, principal and Chief Medical Superintendent at JNMC also graced the seminar with his solitaire presence. He suggested using the option of computerized services of Central Record Section.
R.R. Sukul, Director of the Institute of Ophthalmology, attended the seminar and provided an overview of National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB). He highlighted the ways through which the programme could be beneficial for its recipient. Discussion on the utility of Sentinel Surveillance Unit (SSU) in ophthalmology was initiated by F. Azra Jilani, incharge of SSU. She also recognized the areas where improvement was required.
Prof. Zulfia Khan, former coordinator of SSU also recommended some steps, which could result in the placement of SSU at rank one in the country. Imperative presentations on various important issues concerning blindness, refractive errors, glaucoma etc was made by M. Athar Ansari, Zulfia Khan, F. Azra Jilani, and Meena Zaidi.
Emphasis was also laid on the proper data entry of all the onward transmission of correct data to the higher centres. Najam Khalique, Medical Superintendent, concluded the seminar with a vote of thanks. The effort of conducting the seminar was appreciated by various medical personnel and people associated with the cause.
