India short of trained eye doctors, key infrastructure: AIIMS survey

A new national survey led by the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has found that India faces major shortfall in trained eye care professionals and uneven access to ophthalmic services across regions.

The study, published in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology assessed the current status, distribution and gaps in human resources and infrastructure for eye care at secondary and tertiary levels, measuring progress toward Vision 2020 targets.

The study, titled “Human Resources and Infrastructure for Ophthalmic Services in India: Results from the National Survey”, represents one of the largest databases on eye care in India, covering 7,901 institutions across the country.

The multi-institutional survey included eye care centres with at least one ophthalmologist. Data was collected telephonically and through online surveys from one representative per institute, followed by virtual meetings with state and district programme officers to improve participation.

Of the 9,440 identified eye care institutions, 8,790 were contacted, and 7,901 responded, giving a response rate of nearly 90%, the AIIMS said.

According to the survey findings, India has 20,944 ophthalmologists, a ratio of one for every 65,221 people, against the “Vision 2020” target of one per 50,000.

There are also 17,856 optometrists and ophthalmic technicians, translating to an average of 15 ophthalmologists and 74 eye beds per million people.

On an average, each secondary or tertiary eye institute has three ophthalmologists and two optometrists. However, the study recorded significant gaps in availability and access to advanced care.

Only 40.5 per cent of institutions provide 24-hour emergency eye services, 5.7 per cent operate eye banks and 28.3 per cent offer low-vision rehabilitation.

The study also revealed that 70.6 per cent of eye care institutions are privately owned, while 15.6 per cent are public and 13.8 per cent are run by NGOs. The private sector employs nearly 59 per cent of ophthalmologists, followed by NGOs at 23 per cent and government hospitals at 18 per cent.

Most institutes provide cataract (91.5 per cent) and glaucoma (71.5 per cent) services. However, the availability of subspecialties such as vitreoretinal surgery, keratoplasty, neuro-ophthalmology, and paediatric ophthalmology remains limited. Only 2,180 centres across the country provide paediatric eye surgery under general anaesthesia, roughly one per 6,30,000 people.

Regional disparities were among the strongest findings of the survey. Densely populated northern and eastern states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal, face the most severe shortages, with ophthalmologist-to-population ratios well below national benchmarks.

The survey revealed that Uttar Pradesh alone needs an estimated 2,464 additional ophthalmologists to meet “Vision 2020” norms. In contrast, Delhi, Puducherry, Goa and Maharashtra meet or exceed recommended standards and sometimes report a surplus. Optometrist distribution shows a similar imbalance, with major gaps in rural and northern regions and higher availability in urban and southern areas.

The survey recommends a targeted strategy to expand human resources and infrastructure, with priority to underserved regions. It also calls for collaborative planning among government, NGO and private sectors for better allocation of resources and stronger service monitoring.

A key recommendation is to develop a Human Resource Information System (HRIS) to support data-driven planning and address workforce gaps at district and state levels.

The report concludes that while India has expanded its eye care services in recent years, major inequities persist in both workforce and infrastructure.