The Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Thiruvananthapuram is the highest government level referral hospital in the field of ophthalmology in Kerala state.

[1] Sunayanam, the first mobile eye hospital in Kerala operates under Thiruvananthapuram Regional Institute of Ophthalmology.

[3] The hospital was established as Government Eye Hospital in 1905, during the reign of king Sree Moolam Thirunal of Travancore.

[2] The new Specialty Block of the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Thiruvananthapuram was inaugurated in February 2019.

[3] On 13 February 2019, Kerala government and the RIO Trivandrum Alumni Association jointly started a rehabilitation center for visually challenged patients under the Punarjyothi project.