This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Thailand treating cataract as ‘matter of urgency’

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

CHIANG RAI, Thailand — An ambitious program from the Thai government could mean a zero backlog rate by the end of the summer for patients waiting for cataract surgery, according to a Thai news service.

Deputy Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced plans for the government to provide treatment as a “matter of urgency under the ‘Kaew Ta Duang Jai’ Scheme” to honor Queen Sirikit’s 72^nd birthday, the news service reported.

Thailand’s facilities for performing cataract surgery are limited, with about 100,000 operations performed each year. Initially, the program was to provide free operations and IOLs for 100,000 patients, but that goal was exceeded by 30,000. Another 20,000 patients are expected to undergo cataract surgery by the middle of August, the report said.