Karnataka State Ophthalmic Assistants Association(KSOAA) has demanded the state government to increase the number of eye specialists in the state hospitals and has submitted a memorandum to the state government to look into the issue.

Currently, the Karnataka health department is facing an acute shortage of ophthalmic assistants with over 150 posts lying vacant. There are 580 posts across the state for the ophthalmic specialty but only four chiefs in the field are available at the 14 government hospitals and around 1,900 Primary Health Centres (PHCs), stated D Raju, honorary, president of the KSOAA.

Although, there are many students who have completed their diploma in ophthalmic assistance, the state government is yet to begin recruitment procedure. Going by the increasing number of eye disorders like glaucoma, cataract, refractive treatment, cornea surgeries, paediatric eye diseases and cancer, the state needs more experts to handle the patients, he stated.

The Association has also insisted that the government should look at revision of the pay scales of ophthalmic assistants. Presently, the salary scales of  ophthalmic assistants on par with ‘first division assistant’ category even though the candidates have a diploma qualification.

The need for eye care is gaining ground and there is also a paucity of hospitals in ophthalmic care in the government sector across the state. Only Minto Ophthalmic Hospital in Bangalore which is part of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) has the  facility that patients could access. The hospital has dedicated departments for vitreo retina, Glaucoma, orbit and occuloplasty and a squint clinic. Advanced surgeries and implants are carried out here. The patients from districts need to come to Bangalore for eye care and the main reason for this was the serious lack of eye expert shortfall, stated members of the KSOAA.

Ophthalmic hospitals are not bed intensive like other specialties but outpatient focused. In eye care, the present bed to patient ratio is 1.03 in India. Therefore the need for more experts for early detection of diseases to prevent blindness is extremely important, stated the Association members.

Further, there is also a growing need for community ophthalmology to organize eye camps which is the hub for detection and treatment of many eye conditions that could eventually lead to blindness. Therefore, there is a need for more posts to be created in the government and primary heath centres to help eradicate blindness which is currently estimated at over 18 million in the country, stated members of  KSOAA.