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In India, diabetic retinopathy treatment hindered by expense, access
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A lack of public awareness, coupled with the cost of treatment, a dearth of specialists and a lack of training facilities offering vitreoretinal fellowships has hampered physicians’ abilities to adequately treat diabetic retinopathy in India, according to a report.
“Due to a lack of public awareness, patients approach the ophthalmologist late and get diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy at a stage when the chances of complications are more, recovery of vision is less and surgery is the only resort,” said Ramesh Shanbhag, MD, a professor of ophthalmology at Grant Medical College in Mumbai, in a report in Express Healthcare Management.
The government estimates that 600,000 people have diabetic retinopathy in the country, but there are only 600 retinal specialists. Adding to the problem is that patients tend to go to government hospitals, where treatment is free, but waiting lists are long. Additionally, there are only five centers in the country that offer retinal subspecialty fellowships, according to the report.
A movement to open more diabetic clinics staffed with a dedicated team of ophthalmologists, general physicians, endocrinologists and neurologists “would be cost effective” for treating retinopathy, the report said. General physicians can help by encouraging their patients with diabetes to have annual ocular exams, the report’s authors said.
Another potential remedy would be the implementation of tele-ophthalmology, said Rajiv Raman, MD, in the article.
“The setup constitutes a van, which has a fundus camera for retinal evaluation, paramedical staff and a setup for satellite connectivity, thus offering connectivity on a minimum of 150 km radius,” he said.