Minto Opthalmic Hospital gets advanced eye surgery suite but patients stay away due to Covid-19

A doctor at Minto carries out eye surgery using an advanced refractive laser eye surgery suite.

An advanced refractive surgery suite set up at the Minto Ophthalmic Hospital here to offer affordable Lasik and other eye surgeries has been lying largely unused for lack of patients, thanks to the pandemic.

The advanced femtosecond VisuMax laser system manufactured by the German firm, Zeiss, was obtained by the state government at a cost of about Rs 8 crore in 2019, but Dr B L Sujatha Rathod, the director of the hospital, explained that the unit was set up just months before Covid-19 hit the state and disrupted non-Covid medical care.

"The idea was to offer advanced Lasik, Photorefractive Keratectomy and other eye surgeries at a fraction of the cost charged by the private sector using the same advanced level of surgical technology. If private hospitals charge Rs 1.2 lakh for Lasik, we are charging about Rs 60,000. Other surgeries range between Rs 4,000 and 50,000. But the onset of Covid-19 in Karnataka derailed patient interest," she said.

The hospital said it had conducted about 300 surgeries by March 2020 when the lockdown prompted the cessation of non-Covid services. "Many hospital wards were transformed to handle Covid-19 cases but to our surprise, the expected numbers of people for surgery following the two waves were not met," she said.

"Our medical team can conduct about 14 surgeries per day. Each surgery takes about five minutes. Our minimal expectation is to get two or three patients per day. We are not even getting that," she said.

The reasons are said to be varied: a continued fear of Covid-19 to seek treatment and a general lack of awareness that the facility is available at the center. The hospital stressed that it is only the third government facility to do so — after AIIMS and PGIMER Chandigarh — to offer such surgeries.

A third factor, despite the heavily discounted rates, is that even the reduced prices are unaffordable by the poor. "Out of the 400 to 500 people who are coming on average as outpatients to the hospital daily, about 50% have refractive eye problems. But many cannot afford the cost even though the World Health Organisation describes refractive eye problems as the easiest form of blindness to reverse," said Assistant Professor Kiran Kumar K, Cornea, Cataract and Refractive Services, Minto Ophthalmic Hospital, who is in charge of the suite.

"We have sent a proposal to the government on Wednesday asking them to include refractive eye surgeries under the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), so that poor patients can avail the treatment without worrying about cost," Dr Kumar added.