Search

Purpose: The aim of this study was to report on the impact of COVID-19 "Unlock-I" on Network of Eye Centers in Southern India. Methods: Our eye health pyramid model has a network of eye care centers in four Indian states. The network constitutes a center of excellence (CoE) at the apex followed by tertiary care centers (TC) located in urban areas, secondary care centers (SC), and primary care vision centers (VC) at the base located in rural areas. We collected data on patients seen between June 2019 and June 2020, which included age, gender, total patients seen (new or follow-up), and socioeconomic status (paying and nonpaying). A comparative study was done between the data for outpatients and surgeries performed pre-COVID-19 and during Unlock-I in COVID-19 period. Results: There was a 36.71% reduction in the overall outpatients seen in June 2020 (n = 83,161) compared to June 2019 (n = 131,395). The reduction was variable across different levels of the pyramid with the highest reduction in CoE (54.18%), followed by TCs (40.37%), SCs (30.49%) and VCs (18.85%). Similar pattern was seen for new paying patients with the highest reduction in CoE (54.22%), followed by TCs (25.86%) and SCs (4.9%). A 43.67% reduction was noted in the surgeries performed in June 2020 (n = 6,168), compared to June 2019 (n = 10,950). Reduction in paying services was highest in CoE (47.52%), followed by TCs (15.17%) and SCs (4.87%). There was no significant change in the uptake of services by gender in the network. Conclusion: Highest reduction in patient footfalls during "Unlock-1" was noted in urban centers. Going forward, there is a need to develop strategies to provide eye care closer to the doorsteps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current model, some of our primary care technicians who manage our primary eye care "vision centres" shut them down when they service home care patients. Vulnerable communities like the elderly saw significantly poor access to eye care during the first and second waves of the pandemic.[[4]] To address this inequitable access today and for the future, we have developed a pyramidal model of eye care service delivery which brings eye care closer to communities that need them. Dear Editor, Projections show that the elderly in India will touch 19% of the country's population by 2050.[[1]] This increase will lead to a bigger demand for geriatric health care. [Extracted from the article]