Cornea Specialists: Light on the Growing Demand (p.1)

Times have changed. Better food and health awareness has resulted in people living longer.  However, this longevity has led to an increase in chronic conditions that affect different parts of the body. For most elderly patients, eye problems and vision correction problems are a serious concern as they limit mobility and make the patient completely dependent.

Rising costs of corneal problems and vision correction procedures: Shortage of the cornea specialist.

More than 22 million Americans over the age of 50 suffer from at least one type of eye problem. This increased age expectancy is problematic for high-income countries like the US. Data by the Diabetes Federation shows that there are over 55 million adults and 112,000 children in Europe suffering from diabetes related cornea and vision correction eye problems and 10 million more cases are expected by the year 2030.  In the year 2009 to 2010, the number of people over the age of 60 also increased 3% but the number of ophthalmologists increased by 1.3% only. This increase was also concentrated in low-income and developing countries leading to a severe shortage of trained cornea specialist doctors in the Western world.

According to the National Eye Institute and Prevent Blindness America Report of 2008, researchers have also noted that direct medical costs for treating only cataracts and vision correction mistakes in this group of people will cost the government about $6.8 billion annually. Aside from the cost, there is also a severe shortage of trained cornea specialist doctors that can detect and carry out vision correction procedures. At present, there are about 23,861 eye specialists in the US and there is a serious demand for trained and experienced cornea specialists to deal with the rising incidence of vision correction problems.

Dr. John Goosey in Houston, Texas is one of the world’s leading cornea specialists.

2018-08-08T15:58:34-05:00July 1st, 2013|Eye News|