Equity in access to cataract surgeries in a Brazilian region: health caravan program

This article aims to assessequity in the population's access to cataract extraction procedures in the Health Caravan Program and its coverage in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. It is a cross-sectional study, with analysis of secondary data from the Informatics Department of the Ministry of Health and productivity reports of the Health Caravan Program with standardization of the coefficient of cataract surgeries in Brazil. The results showed the execution of 13,361 cataract surgeries in 2015 and 23,340 in 2016. There was no significant difference in the distribution of surgical procedures among the public health regions. However, the increase in the amount of surgeries is relevant when analyzing the number of procedures performed in each public health region, which indicates a repressed demand. The Health Caravan Program expanded people's access to the surgical procedure to eliminate cataracts. The coefficient of cataract surgeries exceeded the average of the previous year in the state, as well as the national average. Considering a demographically dispersed area such as Mato Grosso do Sul, this program proved to be a good alternative to ensure people's access to the surgical procedure.