Infection control in cataract surgery

Abstract

India has the world's largest cataract backlog, with approximately 7 million individuals in need of cataract surgery (1). This is after the launch of the National Programme for the Control of Blindness, and of Vision 2020the right to sight programmewhich lead to a considerable improvement in the situation. Currently, 5 million cataract surgeries are performed every year, up from only 0.5 million in 1976. This is a big achievement, particularly with the scarce human resources and poor physical infrastructure available in the country. But though the number of operations has gone up, the quality still needs improvement. Still, surgical complications arising from cataract surgery are the cause of just a fraction of blindness according to surveys conducted across the country (1).Due to the huge backlog, we try to do as much work as possible, and as fast as possible. And every now and then, we hear about cluster infections. Recently, four episodes of cluster infections were reported. One was reported from a government hospital in Assam in January 2008, and another from Valsad district, Gujarat, at an NGO hospital in February 2008. The third was reported from a surgical camp conducted by an NGO in Barabanki district, Uttar Pradesh, in February 2008 and the fourth occurred at an NGO hospital in Trichy, Tamilnadu, in September 2008.

Evaluation of Visual Outcome of Cataract Surgery in Eye Camps

“…7 India has the world's largest cataract backlog with approximately 7 million individuals in need of cataract surgery. 8 The reasons for this backlog include lack of access to eye care and lack of resources, specially-trained surgeons to deliver cataract surgery safely and reliably.…”