Retinopathy is one of the most severe complications that can arise due to diabetes mellitus and is one of the leading causes of blindness.A substantial proportion of patients who have lived with diabetes for 10 years or more are affected by diabetic retinopathy. As in the early stages it does not cause any symptoms it remains largely ignored and undiagnosed. However, if proper monitoring and treatment were in place a vast majority of them can be prevented from progressing to a stage of severe visual disability or blindness.India - sometimes referred to as the diabetes capital of the world - currently has an estimated 50 million people living with diabetes and has many cases of diabetic retinopathy which are not detected in time to avoid blindness, this is particularly the case in the relatively less developed regions such as Uttar Pradesh where the need to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and of diabetic retinopathy is substantial.The project's objective is to ensure early diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy in five districts in Uttar Pradesh, India.
The project is headed by the Tirupati Eye Centre, which is situated in Noida City and provides treatment of all kinds of eye problems. The Tirupati Eye Centre was been inspired by the WDF funded project "Mobile diabetic retinopathy treatment" (WDF05-110) that was carried out by the Vittala International Institute of Ophthalmology in Bangalore. The latter institution will provide advisory ad technical support to Tirupati Eye Centre and thereby ensure that lessons learned under the WDF05-110 project will be taken into account when this current project is implemented.The scene of the project is Western Uttar Pradesh more precisely the five districts Gautam Budh Nagar, Bagpat, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad and Meerut. Uttar Pradesh is one of the poorest states in India and in these five districts diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy is virtually non-existent especially in the rural areas.The project will be initiated with the training of 60 ophthalmologists, 120 general physicians and 80 health care workers. The ophthalmologists will be trained on diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy whereas the general physicians will learn about detection, treatment and follow-up of diabetes and its complications, e.g. diabetic foot, as well. The health care workers will receive training on how to detect early stages of complications associated with diabetes in order to know when to timely refer patients for treatment. Part of the training will be hands-on experience.Concurrently, a mobile clinic will be established and provided with diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. The idea is that the mobile clinic will travel around in the five districts and serve as a facility for the trained ophthalmologists and general physicians where they can screen and treat their patients. The mobile clinic will travel according to a set schedule so the ophthalmologists and general physicians know when the mobile clinic will be in their area and can book the clinic for their patients.In addition, the trained health care workers will also carry out screening camps at their own local clinic. In general, patients who require treatment that can be performed at the mobile clinic will be referred to the ophthalmologists or general physicians whereas patients with advanced vitreo retinal problems in need of surgery will be referred to the Tirupati Eye Centre for treatment. It is expected that a total of 67,000 patients with various stages of diabetic retinopathy will be treated as part of this project.
• 60 ophthalmologists trained• 120 general physicians trained in management of diabetic retinopathy complications• 80 health care workers trained in screening and counselling of people with diabetic retinopathy• Mobile clinic established• Around 67,000 patients with diabetic retinopathy treated