You are here

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Volume 101, Issue 2
  • The cataract situation in Suriname: an effective intervention programme to increase the cataract surgical rate in a developing country

Responses

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Global issues
The cataract situation in Suriname: an effective intervention programme to increase the cataract surgical rate in a developing country
Compose a Response to This Article
Compose Response

More information about text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Author Information
First or given name, e.g. 'Peter'.
Your last, or family, name, e.g. 'MacMoody'.
Your email address, e.g. higgs-boson@gmail.com
Your role and/or occupation, e.g. 'Orthopedic Surgeon'.
Your organization or institution (if applicable), e.g. 'Royal Free Hospital'.
Statement of Competing Interests

PLEASE NOTE:

  • A rapid response is a moderated but not peer reviewed online response to a published article in a BMJ journal; it will not receive a DOI and will not be indexed unless it is also republished as a Letter, Correspondence or as other content. Find out more about rapid responses.
  • We intend to post all responses which are approved by the Editor, within 14 days (BMJ Journals) or 24 hours (The BMJ), however timeframes cannot be guaranteed. Responses must comply with our requirements and should contribute substantially to the topic, but it is at our absolute discretion whether we publish a response, and we reserve the right to edit or remove responses before and after publication and also republish some or all in other BMJ publications, including third party local editions in other countries and languages
  • Our requirements are stated in our rapid response terms and conditions and must be read. These include ensuring that: i) you do not include any illustrative content including tables and graphs, ii) you do not include any information that includes specifics about any patients,iii) you do not include any original data, unless it has already been published in a peer reviewed journal and you have included a reference, iv) your response is lawful, not defamatory, original and accurate, v) you declare any competing interests, vi) you understand that your name and other personal details set out in our rapid response terms and conditions will be published with any responses we publish and vii) you understand that once a response is published, we may continue to publish your response and/or edit or remove it in the future.
  • By submitting this rapid response you are agreeing to our terms and conditions for rapid responses and understand that your personal data will be processed in accordance with those terms and our privacy notice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Vertical Tabs

Other responses

Jump to comment:

  • Published on: 22 May 2017
    Eye health system strengthening to improve health outcomes in the Caribbean

    I read with interest the article by Pawiroredjo et al1 which described an intervention programme to increase the cataract surgical rate in Suriname. I commend the team at the Suriname Eye Centre (SEC) for their efforts towards eliminating avoidable cataract blindness and visual impairment. The Suriname Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (2013-2014) survey showed that the proportion of eyes with a postoperative visual acuity <6/60 (poor outcome) was lowest in eyes operated at the SEC (8.5%), higher for the Cuban Mission Milagros (18.8%) and highest in surgeries performed by foreign humanitarian ophthalmic missions (33.3%).

    In neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago, Persad and Bhola reported higher complication rates following cataract surgery performed by a foreign visiting team over a 2-week period compared to those done by local surgeons2. Despite a similar case mix, the visiting team had a sixfold higher vitreous loss rate and a fourfold higher overall surgical complication rate. The authors recommended careful screening of visiting surgical teams by relevant authorities. This supports Pawiroredjo’s suggestion of lowering complication rates and improving outcomes by regulating and limiting access of less experienced foreign ophthalmic teams to eye camps, where 50% of poor outcome was caused by intraoperative complications.

    Suriname has achieved cataract surgical coverage (for all VA levels) of 90% in bilaterally blind or visually impaired individuals age...

    Show More
    Conflict of Interest:
    None declared.