Dear HIFA colleagues,
I would like to introduce Question 3: What is the availability and quality of cataract surgery?
We have learned that cataract surgery is one of the safest and most successful operations in medicine, with excellent outcomes where services are well developed. However, access and quality remain highly unequal worldwide, and many millions of people still do not receive timely, high-quality surgery.
In high-income countries, even a dog can expect high-quality cataract surgery. In LMICs, millions of people remain blind because they do not have access. Those who can access surgery may not always receive high-quality care. We have heard from Dr Babale about his friend who went blind after cataract surgery. We do not know if the surgery contributed to this, but we do know that suboptimal surgery is very common.
At the extreme end of human experience, I have read that the traditional practice of couching - whereby a stick is inserted into the eye to dislodge the lens, often with catastrophic results - is still occasionally practiced in some parts of rural Africa. I would be interested if anyone can confirm this. If this is still happening, how can it be addressed and prevented?
One thing is clear: there is an urgent need to train cataract surgeons at scale. Organisations like HelpMeSee are leading the way to provide high-quality simulation-based training. We look forward to learning more about this over the coming days.
In the meantime, please introduce yourself to others here on HIFA. Email to: hifa@hifaforums.org
For an overview including all seven questions: www.hifa.org/cataract
To review all messages to date: www.hifa.org/read
With thanks and best wishes,
Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org