Is the 2015 eye care service delivery profile in Southeast Asia closer to universal eye health need!

Abstract

The midterm assessment suggests that all countries must design the current programs to effectively address both current and emerging causes of blindness. Capacity building and proportionate distribution of human resources for adequate rural reach along with poverty alleviation could be the keys to achieve the universal eye health by 2019.

Universal eye health in Odisha, India, Sunetra. Report # 1. Program planning

“…In recent years, India has done well in improving the cataract surgical rate (CSR; defined as number of cataract operations performed per million population per year; it is used as a proxy indicator of access to cataract services in a country and is usually linked to economic growth), 17 cataract surgical coverage (CSC; defined as the proportion of persons and eyes with “operable” cataract who have already received surgery; it measures the impact of cataract surgery intervention programs), 18 and effective cataract surgical coverage (defined as operated cataract and good outcome as a proportion of operable plus operated cataract). 19 Three important factors have contributed to high CSR and good CSC rates in India (2014 data: CSR 5,050/million; CSC 66% 20 and 2016 CSR data: 5,136/million). 2 These factors are follows: 1) training of ophthalmologists in modern cataract surgery using surgical microscope and insertion of intraocular lens, 2) indigenous manufacturing of high-quality affordable intraocular lenses, and 3) the Indian pharmaceutical industry’s manufacturing of eye care medications and equipment at affordable cost.…”

Macular hole surgery under retrobulbar local anesthesia increases visual acuity

“…The current prevalence of blindness in Indonesia of 3.2% is in line with rapid assessments of avoidable blindness (RAAB) research results in several provinces. (19) Among these cases of blindness, there was blindness due to retinal disease, such as macular diseases. In comparison, it has been estimated that there are new cases of retinal disorders of 17,500 -25,000 per year.…”

Imagining eye care in India (2018 Lalit Prakash Agarwal lecture)

“…The greatest crunch lies in the urban centric preference of trained healthcare personnel, similar to the other parts of the world and the Southeast Asian countries. [ 21 ] This must be addressed urgently in order to achieve universal eye care in India.…”