Tuulonen A.

University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

The main objective of eye health care is to allocate the finite health care recourses in the most cost-effective way to promote well-being of the citizens. There is a need to face and learn to live with the reality of growing discrepancy between demand and recourses for health care services. Despite our sincere intentions and good will (as well as regardless how health care services are financed), it is not possible to guarantee all possible services to everyone, not now or in future. We need to understand that we are both part of the problem and the solution. E.g. health care systems increase their own demand.

The task of universities is to invent new interventions (despite societies not affording even the current ones), because citizens do not want pay more taxes etc.

There is also long-standing evidence indicating that simply spending more money and resources does not improve access and outcome of care, nor patient satisfaction. Instead of agonising and griping, or trying to escape the reality (which decreases both possibilities of finding solutions as well as wellbeing of both patients and health care personnel), we need to take the responsibility of both advantages and disadvantages of our decision making, including the costs, and make all efforts to develop sustainable eye care together with the patients, citizens and all parties involved.