The Problem
- Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide and is a frequent cause of new cases of blindness among adults ages 20-74.
- DR occurs in 50% of diabetic patients within the first fifteen years of diagnosis of their diabetes.
- Early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and DR is critical because the risk of developing eye problems increases with the amount of time an individual has diabetes.
- There are currently over 3.2 million people with diabetes in Bangladesh; this number is expected to increase to more than 11 million by 2030. In Indonesia, there are an estimated 8.4 million diabetics, with the number projected to reach 21.3 million by 2030.
- Current health care systems in these countries are ill-equipped to provide the necessary screening and treatment required to prevent the avoidable vision loss associated with advanced DR.
What HKI Is Doing
- HKI and our partners are initiating a program to improve access to, and long-term compliance with, diabetic retinopathy care among the urban poor by establishing a collaborative network to identify and refer DR cases, provide high quality treatment, and keep patients in the healthcare system once identified.
- Through this program, HKI and our partners will educate health care professionals about the need to refer patients for vision examinations, provide them with equipment and training and institute a model “case management” system to improve long-term care.
