A recent national survey conducted by the Dr. Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences at AIIMS, New Delhi, provides a comprehensive overview of India’s current ophthalmic human resources and infrastructure. The findings reveal both progress and persistent gaps in eye care availability, particularly when measured against the Vision 2020 goals of eliminating avoidable blindness. The survey included 7,901 secondary and tertiary eye care institutes (89.9% response rate) from across the country.
It is estimated that India currently has approximately 20,944 ophthalmologists and 17,849 optometrists practicing at these levels. On average, this translates to one ophthalmologist for every 65,000 people and about 15 ophthalmologists per million population. This falls short of the recommended ophthalmologist density required to deliver comprehensive and equitable eye care coverage…
