Greater education and awareness can prevent diabetic retinopathy

BANGALORE, India — Using a proven collaboration between the government, industry and institutions of excellence can further spread education, awareness and prevention of diabetic retinopathy and other diseases in India, a surgeon said here.

In a keynote speech at the All India Ophthalmological Society meeting, Lifetime Achievement Award winner P. Namperumalsamy, MD, spoke about the model of Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) in conjunction with Center of Relevance and Excellence (CORE).

The goal of TIFAC-CORE, he said, is to develop centers of excellence anchored in medicine. Thus far, Dr. Namperumalsamy said they have created hundreds of such institutions and helped to further develop smaller institutions, especially in the realm of diabetic retinopathy, which is a large problem in India.

"All 21 million diabetic people [in India] are the clients of ophthalmologists because [diabetic retinopathy] is a preventable disease. If they don't have diabetic retinopathy, it's good that we can monitor them," he said. "You need only an ophthalmoscope so that you can prevent most of them from going to the [severe] stage."

Dr. Namperumalsamy said prevention begins with programs such as TIFAC-CORE that help improve the infrastructure of Indian ophthalmology. He said these programs can help get the best equipment, teach the technicians and lower-level fellows how to use the equipment, and further research that could answer the question of why diabetic retinopathy greatly affects India. In addition, he said, satellite use with digital images will allow for an extended reach into more rural areas.

"Every ophthalmologist can care for diabetic retinopathy, not just retinal surgeons," Dr. Namperumalsamy said. "If a diabetic retinopathy patient goes blind, you cannot get back vision."