1. Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Ontario scaling-up strategy
Olivera Sutakovic
Diabetes Action Canada Workshop
Toronto, May 31st - Jun 1st 2019

2. Objectives
Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a sight-threatening complication of diabetes and the leading cause of blindness in working age Canadians.
Unfortunately, many people living with diabetes do not have access to regular eye examinations.
Data from Institute of Evaluative Sciences showed over 400,000 adults living with diabetes in Ontario, had NOT had an eye examination over the 2-year period ( ).

3. Results and Goal
To address the low rate of Diabetic Retinopathy screening in at risk populations, and to improve access to timely care, a new approach has been developed using telemedicine - Tele Retina.
The program has expanded to 46 active sites across Ontario.
In the last 2 years 4154 people living with diabetes have been screened by Tele-Retina program.
Our goal is to ensure that every person living with diabetes has access to Diabetic Retinopathy screening.
We are still facing challenges how to identify, engage and provide follow-up monitoring for the Ontarians requiring DR screening.