Argentinean, Indian ophthalmologists discuss similarities in ophthalmic care

BUENOS AIRES — Ophthalmologists at the Argentinean Society of Ophthalmology Annual Course identified with speakers from the All-India Ophthalmological Society as they spoke about the "best and worst" within their country.

K.P.S. Malik

"India is a huge country with a huge population of 1 billion," K.P.S. Malik, MBBS, MS, DOMS, MNAMS, FICS, said at the meeting. "You have got the best and you have got the worst. ... You have jets, and you have still horse and carts."

He showed the audience in Buenos Aires the manual small-incision techniques that ophthalmologists in India use when phacoemulsification technology is not available, especially when a patient has a hard white cataract, which is common in India.

Specifically, Dr. Malik explained his modified Blumenthal's technique in which he uses viscoelastic rather than balanced salt solution to maintain anterior chamber depth and better protect the cornea.

After the presentation, Oscar Mallo, MD, agreed that Latin America faces some of the same problems as India.

"Usually here in South America, it's like in India. We have special centers that have all the things, all the advice, all the state of the art. And we have very poor places that have more facilities that they don't have, unfortunately, all the things that they need," Dr. Mallo said.