Ophthalmology in Bulgaria
S. C. Gieser, P. Vassileva and S. K. West
Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
Bulgaria faces a marked shortage of ophthalmic resources. There are over
600 ophthalmologists for this Balkan nation of 8.9 million, giving Bulgaria
a ratio of ophthalmologists to overall population that is similar to that
of the United States; however, less than 20% of these ophthalmologists
perform surgery. No formal residency or fellowship training programs exist
in the country. Ophthalmic textbooks and journals are written predominantly
in Russian and are in short supply. Pharmaceutical supplies are extremely
limited. The leading cause of blindness in Bulgaria is cataracts that have
not been treated surgically. Most cataracts are removed with intracapsular
extraction. However, in the major cities, extracapsular cataract extraction
with implantation of intraocular lenses is available.
