FIMA Year Book 2010-2011 - Federation of Islamic Medical ...

FIMA GIVES VISION
(corrected visual acuity less than 3/60 in the
better eye), based on WHO criteria. The rates of
blindness, visual impairment and low vision
were 1.1%, 5.9% and 4.8% respectively.
The distribution of VI by age group is 7% in the
0-14 years age group, 28% in the 15-49 years
age group, and 65% in the 50 years and older
age group.
Sri Lanka, being a developing South East Asian
nation, has its own share of this disease burden.
While the public sector eye care services are
extremely limited and far from meeting the
demands of the public, the cost of care in the
private sector is prohibitive to many affected
patients. It is indeed the humanitarian sector that
frequently comes forward to help poor patients
and ease the disease burden of the society in Sri
Lanka and other developing countries.
Status of Eye Health Care in Sri Lanka:
Sri Lanka is a beautiful small island at the
southern tip of South Asia. It has a population of
19.2 million. (50.2% female and 49.8% male). It
has a higher literacy rate and life expectancy rate
when compared to other neighbouring South
Asian countries. Life expectancy at birth is 71
years for male and 74 years for females 3 .
The Kandy Eye Study, is a population based
survey conducted in the Kandy district of Sri
Lanka’s central province 4 . In this study of 1721
eligible subjects, 1375 participated (79.9%).
Their average age was 57 years. All subjects
underwent evaluation at presentation with best
corrected log MAR visual acuity, and slit lamp
examination. Primary outcome measures were
visual impairment (corrected visual acuity less
than 6/18 in the better eye) and blindness
The study revealed that the prevalence of
blindness is considerably greater than previously
believed. It also showed that cataract and age
related macular degeneration are the leading
causes of visual impairment
Cataract caused 79% of visual impairment, and
age related macular degeneration caused 15% 4 .
Total number of blind population in Sri Lanka is
81,000. Maturity onset cataract accounts for
66% of the blind population. Number of people
blind due to cataract is 54,000. (Impaired vision
not included in this calculation).Total of cataract
blind eyes with visual acuity (VA) below 3/60 is
125,800. If criteria for selection for cataract
surgery is brought up to 6/60, the number of
eyes needing surgery would be 125,800*2.5=
314,500 3 .
Human Resources and Infrastructure in
Delivering Eye Care in Sri Lanka:
Inspite of higher health indices and literacy
rates, skilled human resources to deliver eye care
services do not exist in many parts of the
peripheries of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, lack of
infrastructure development and the destruction
of already existing poor infrastructure due to
three decades of war between Tamil Tigers and
the government of Sri Lanka destroyed whatever
was available.
This left a large segment of the Sri Lankans
totally isolated from centers in big cities where
eye services were available either at the private
sector at a very high cost or in the government
sector where the long waiting list is too long and
many will not survive to reach the top of the list.
It has been identified by the Sri Lanka Eye
Foundation that the lack of accessibility and
affordability to eye care services are the main
causes of preventable blindness in Sri Lanka.
Humanitarian Sector:
While the private sector eye care was
unthinkable to most Sri Lankans and the public
FIMA YearBook 2010-2011 74