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‘His relentless service to society left an indelible mark’: Tributes pour as SS Badrinath dies
A renowned vitreoretinal surgeon, Badrinath received the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri in 1996 and 1983, respectively
Chennai: Dr SS Badrinath, founder and chairman emeritus of Sankara Nethralaya in Chennai, which ensured affordable eye care to millions of people, passed away on Tuesday. He was 83.
He is survived by wife Dr Vasanthi Badrinath, a pediatrician, and two sons Ananth and Seshu.
Condoling his demise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Badrinath’s contributions to eye care and his relentless service to society have left an indelible mark.
“Deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. SS Badrinath Ji, a visionary, expert in ophthalmology and founder of Sankara Nethralaya. His contributions to eye care and his relentless service to society have left an indelible mark. His work will continue to inspire generations. Condolences to his family and loved ones. Om Shanti,” Modi wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
A renowned vitreoretinal surgeon, Badrinath received the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri in 1996 and 1983, respectively.
In 1978, he, along with a group of doctors, set up Sankara Nethralaya – a non-profit eye hospital – in Chennai to provide free eye care for the poor. While Sankara Nethralaya has five centres in Chennai, it also provides services in Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh and Assam.
According to the institute, in 1998, it created a record when doctors performed the largest number of Corneal Transplant Surgeries in the country. Nethralaya had performed 402 corneal transplants from the 536 eyes received.
In a paper published in 2020 in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology on the model of Sankara Nethralaya, Dr Badrinath and other authors said that they began with free camps at hospital premises. They expanded with the help of national and international NGOs. Community camps were organised, and patients were brought to the hospital, treated, and taken back to their villages. The patient didn’t have to pay anything through this process. “Such outreach initiatives are essential and played a major role in the elimination of avoidable blindness in our country through screening…,” he said in his paper. “A major breakthrough in the history of blindness eradication in the country was introduced” by Netralaya through its Mobile Eye Surgical Unit which is a sterile surgical facility that can travel to remote locations and perform cataract surgery on-site.
“His zeal for digitization of healthcare put to shame many of those who were half his age,” said political commentators and a doctor, Sumanth Raman adding that along with late Dr V Shanta of the Chennai’s Cancer Institute, they “symbolised an era where healthcare was about compassion not commerce.”
Chief minister M K Stalin recalled that late Indian lawyer Nanabhoy “Nani” Palkhivala signed all his assets to Nethralaya. “Dr Badrinatha’s importance can be seen from that. It is a huge loss to the medical field,” Stalin said.
Born in 1940 in Chennai, Sengamedu Srinivasa Badrinath completed his medical education from the life insurance money following his parents’ death. He graduated from the Madras Medical College, Madras, in 1963 and pursued his residency, internship and fellowships in New York and Boston.
He returned to India in the 1970s. He worked in the Voluntary Health Services (VHS) in Chennai and practised ophthalmology in private hospitals. After Dr Badrinath operated on Kanchi pontiff Chandrasekarendra Saraswati Swamigal in 1974, he was encouraged by the mutt’s Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal to start an eye-care hospital for the underprivileged. The Kanchi Mutt on X spoke of his devotion and service to the society.
In 1978, Dr Badrinath along with a group of doctors established Sankara Nethralaya (meaning an eye temple, as a unit of the Medical Research Foundation). Since then the not-for-profit eye hospital in Chennai has been offering free treatment for the poor. But, the technological advancements, clinical expertise and quality healthcare made Sankara Nethralaya a choice for everyone. People from across the country travel for eye treatments and surgeries. Dr Badrinath then built the hospital entirely through donations which they continue to receive. Sankara Nethralaya has five centres in Chennai and provides services in Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Kolkata. The hospital has also been offering academic courses and fellowships.
A vitreoretinal surgeon, he quit active practice in 2019 and had age-related ailments.
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