title: Mobile diabetes eye care: experience in developing countries.
abstract: The prevalence of diabetes in developing countries is on the increase and along with it the need to provide structured care to avoid the feared long term complications among them loss of vision and blindness due to diabetic retinopathy (DR). The biggest hurdle facing most developing countries is the lack of resources and trained manpower to both screen and treat the large number of people with DR. Countries also face the additional problem of unequal distribution of resources between the urban and rural areas. To overcome these challenges models of mobile diabetic retinopathy screening and treatment aided by the use of telemedicine have been introduced and demonstrated to be popular and effective. The aim of this review article is to describe different mobile diabetic retinopathy screening and treatment models developed in India, which can be readily replicated in developing countries presented with similar difficulties.
authors.affiliation: Vittala International Institute of Ophthalmology and Prabha Eye Clinic and Research Center, Bangalore, India. krmjr2000@gmail.com
authors.forename: Krishna R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Murthy
authors.forename: Praveen R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Murthy
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kapur
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Owens
mesh_terms: D019058:Community Networks / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003930:Diabetic Retinopathy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008403:Mass Screening; D008952:Mobile Health Units; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000592:standards