Convention of the COSI
Diabetes is emerging as a major public health issue, Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj observed here on Sunday.Addressing the valedictory of a two-day convention of the Community Ophthalmology Society of India (COSI) at the Sankara Eye Centre here, he said problems in the eye caused by diabetes were acquiring alarming proportions.“India is already called the diabetes capital of the world. At least four per cent of its population is diabetic and 25 per cent of these diabetics have diabetic retinopathy that causes blindness,” he said. Out of nearly 45 lakh people screened so far under the State Government’s Varumun Kappom scheme, 1.5 lakh had been found to be diabetic. Almost 15 per cent to 25 per cent of the people in Chennai were found to have the disease. They faced the risk of problems in the heart, eyes and kidney. This situation called for a special focus on diabetes-related eye care. Stressing even coverage of rural and urban areas by blindness control schemes, Mr. Subburaj said people in cities and towns had access to good eye care as hospitals were more in urban areas. People in the rural areas did not have this benefit. This imbalance should be corrected, he said.Private healthcare institutions provided a lot of inspiration to the Government to improve the facilities and sanitation in its hospitals.“We wonder how private hospitals are able to maintain high levels of sanitation. How much ever good we (Government hospitals) do in terms of surgery and treatment, these are nullified by poor sanitation,” he said.
Poor sanitation was a major complaint, but efforts were on to turn things around. “We have miles to go and we are allocating several thousand crore of rupees on improving the conditions in Government hospitals,” he said. Another effort at improving the services was appointing doctors. “We have appointed 3,300 medical officers. There was 30 per cent shortage of doctors at any given time. Now, doctors have been posted even in remote areas,” he said.Managing Trustee of Sankara Eye Centre R.V. Ramani said the healthcare demand in the country was so huge that it was not possible for the Government alone to meet it. Voluntary organisations needed to chip in to help the Government meet its public health care commitment.
“Health is a basic right of the people. Vision is the gift of God. So, it is unfair to be blind, especially when it can be cured,” he said. Dr. Ramani also pointed out that the rehabilitative part of eye care was as important as that of the preventive and curative.Chairman of the centre S.V. Balasubramaniam pointed out community eye care brought light to the lives of many poor people. “The success of the programme is reflected in the happiness of the patients when whey got back their sight,” he said. President of COSI Tanuja Joshi said words such as “availability”, “accessibility” and “affordability” and also “commitment” and “devotion”, which were mentioned right through the convention, brought out the essence of community eye car. Stressing timely intervention, she warned that diabetic retinopathy and problems of cornea showed no symptoms.
By the time they were discovered, the blindness would have become irreversible. As for diabetes, the involvement of rural community was also important as this disease was no longer restricted to the urban areas. A major community participation in this area was necessary as the problem was huge.The COSI president also called for roping in non-Governmental organisations (NGOs) that were involved in community development programmes for eye care projects. “We need to shift from an emotion-based approach to an evidence-based planning. This required the involvement of organisations that were into community studies.” There was also need for a network between organisations involved in eye care with those in the development sector.
