Multi-agency, tailored approach needed to treat blindness

BERLIN — Treating the more than 37 million blind people around the world will require a combined effort between ophthalmic outreach groups and individual volunteers, incorporating approaches that treat each blinding condition separately while also recognizing regional differences in care, an expert said here.

"We need to tailor our response to each region, to each country and to each locality within those countries. We need to analyze the problem carefully," Robert F. Walters, FRCS, FRCOphth, DO, chairman of Orbis UK, said at the Orbis Symposium, held at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting. "We must all work together."

Dr. Walters said ophthalmic outreach groups should work with local government officials to help build support and infrastructure for both health care services and good hygiene.

Of the 161 million people around the world who are visually impaired or blind, approximately 70% live in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Dr. Walters cautioned physicians not to become "medical tourists" when traveling to other countries to bring surgical care to others and to respect the health and welfare of all patients.