1. João M. Furtado, Van C. Lansingh, María E. Nano, Marissa Carter VISION 2020 Latin America

2. Purpose To describe the Cataract Surgical Rate (CSR) in 19 Latin American countries from 2005 to 2011 Data obtained from National Societies of Ophthalmology, VISION 2020 Committees and Ministries of Health representatives

3. Latin America Pop: 563 million (* excluding the Caribbean; Source: United Nations) Cataract is the main cause of blindness in the region (41-74%) Furtado et al Surv Ophthalmol 2012

4. Source: United Nations Population ≥ 50 Years (2011)

5. Cataract Surgical Rate (CSR) Annual number of cataract operations performed per million population Lansingh et al Ophthalmic Epidemiol 2010

6. Country2005200620072008200920102011 Argentina1769210020892350265026225515 Bolivia563602667800900930 Brazil2448235222122200240027002904 Chile1751193021322820320034503950 Colombia1189135012781350151015901752 Costa Rica1400204921442800295030003200 Cuba1600221931252324203724282708 Dominican Republic 7106827799001000 12471432 Ecuador8018318561050135014901737 El Salvador110411511411105011001150 Guatemala810900875900920990800 Honduras940558631750700800878 Mexico958120011381300145015501720 Nicaragua4608229991300143016101790 Panama- 118011591197132116931882 Paraguay8008959571000110013111351 Peru7618638801429157214001599 Uruguay- 200018983933415044194699 Venezuela960164617542750295034833650 CSR in Latin America

8. 1424 2513 CSR in Latin America

9. Number of ophthalmologists (per million population)

10. 30.4 41.6 Cataract Surgeries per ophthalmologist in Latin America

11. Why CSR is increasing in LA? Due to V2020 advocacy, more governments are incorporating cataract surgery as a priority, providing surgeries free of charge Strong partnership between ONGs and local foundations PAHO 5-year plan influenced policy change in many countries

12. Limitations Lack of reliable data in some cases (especially private sector)/Complete data is not available for all countries CSR includes all cataract surgeries performed, so an improvement in CSR does not necessarily mean more blind people are receiving surgery Discrepancies between different regions/districts of the same country are not shown by this method

13. Remaining challenges Improve data collection about number of surgeries performed and outcome (also disaggregate by gender, level of VA) Improve access to cataract surgery not only in countries with a low CSR, but also in rural areas from countries with a higher CSR Ageing of the population will demand more cataract surgery in the near future There’s no such an ‘target CSR’ that is good for every country

14. Conclusion CSR increased in 17 of 19 Latin American countries from 2005 to 2011, but cataract is still the main cause of blindness in the region Indicator should help us to improve training and influence policy CSR is a proxy indicator; we need to conduct population studies every 5 years to access quality of services and obtain CSC to determine if we are doing surgery in those with blindness/visual impairment

15. Acknowledgements