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Society president calls for greater public access to health care
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BUENOS AIRES — The president of the Argentinean Society of Ophthalmology called for greater cooperation across Argentina's medical societies as well as for greater access to affordable health care for the general public.
 Edgardo Manzitti |
"Presently we are affected by different problems. There is a general conviction that success goes through he who has the most and not he who knows the most. The technology and the decreased income make us more and more a health care agency instead of a physician," Edgardo Manzitti, MD, said at the Argentinean Society of Ophthalmology Annual Course.
He cited issues with Argentineans going abroad for surgeries such as cataract due to the high costs within the country.
"It is a duty for all of us, Argentinean ophthalmologists together with government authorities, to solve this problem. It is absurd, unethical and it even goes against our Hippocratic Oath to have those patients go abroad," Dr. Manzitti said. "Ophthalmology has the resources, both human and technical, to do it."
He encouraged society members to cultivate ophthalmic education.
"It is very important that we as professionals continue to teach and train our students and the young people, leaving space for them to evolve and develop," he said.