Aravind Eye Care System and Alcon have launched the Aravind Alcon Global Centre of Excellence for Vitreoretinal Surgery Training in Coimbatore, India, expanding a long-standing partnership focused on ophthalmic education.

The center follows the opening of the organizations' Global Cataract Centre of Excellence in 2024 and is intended to address shortages of trained retina specialists in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Located at Aravind Eye Hospital in Coimbatore, the facility combines hands-on vitreoretinal surgical training with virtual educational programs to support workforce development.

According to the organizations, the center is intended to strengthen long-term surgical capacity and improve access to retina care in regions where specialist services remain limited. It will include a dedicated wet laboratory for vitreoretinal surgery and is expected to train approximately 60 participants annually while extending its reach through virtual fellowship programs.

Raj Narayanan, senior vice president and president, Alcon International, said the initiative builds on more than 2 decades of collaboration between the companies in surgical education. Venkatapathy Narendran, DO, DNB, the chief medical officer of Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore, said the program comes as retinal disease is becoming a more common cause of vision loss and demand for trained retinal surgeons continues to increase. RP