RESUMEN
According to the most recent national census on blindness, nearly 100,000 persons in Sri Lanka over the age of 40 are thought to be blind from untreated cataracts. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic and the fact that more than 80% of the population lives in rural areas, access to eye care is currently limited. The Association of Community Ophthalmologists of Sri Lanka (SLACO) has been providing free outreach eye care visits on a regular basis in rural regions for the past five to six years in an effort to solve the issue. These visits primarily serve to provide patients with free reading glasses and referrals for complimentary cataract surgery. SLACO members volunteer their services without payment. After registration, individuals had their eyes tested and their distance and near visual acuity were measured. As walk-in patients were accepted, the community ophthalmologist from SLACO assessed 143 patients and gave 120 of them near-vision glasses. 43 patients with operable cataracts had pre-operative evaluations (ECG, fasting blood sugar, and blood pressure check) that day. Because there was a two-year waiting list for the three closest government eye units, SLACO arranged for them to be sent to a charity eye hospital in Colombo.