Commentary on six years after manual small incision cataract surgery- perspective from a secondary level eye hospital in rural India.

Abstract

All over the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a severe blow to eye care, especially with respect to elective cataract surgery. Intermittent lockdowns, and prevailing government norms, have resulted in a near halt of community based cataract surgery programmes. Although exact timelines may vary, most epidemiological analyses agree that the COVID-19 is here to stay, for a long time. As regards eye care, the population affected the most from these changes are obviously the rural populations (44% of the world population), where access to healthcare is already not easily available. Not only are such patients unable to undergo much needed cataract surgery for visually significant cataracts, but patients who have been operated before and during the pandemic are unable to come for follow-up visits.