Ophthalmic screening for diabetics: the importance of physician-ophthalmologist collaboration in the prevention of blindness

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus as a disease is a dragon with many heads. To cope with it, each manifestation must be deftly handled by family physician and specialists in unison. Similarly, the spectre of diabetic retinopathy is best exorcised before it manifests - by effective prophylactic screening. This programme can only be successful through a co-ordinated effort of both physicians and ophthalmologists. In this paper, we present one such agenda which we have adopted, The result indicate that a fifth of diabetics have retinopathy, and that sight threatening disease affects 7% of those screened. More critically, it also establishes that a cost-effective method of screening can be achieved through a synergetic endeavour of primary care physician and specialist.