Indian doctor eyes world record

An Indian doctor is planning to perform 200 cataract extractions free of cost within 15 hours in November in order to secure a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

In 2000, Dr S P Singh, director of Allahabad's Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, performed 50 cataract operations within 11 hours. He improved upon this the following year, entering India's Limca Book of Records in 2001 for performing 81 intraocular lens (IOL) implantations in 11 hours. Dr Singh continued to increase his number of patients each year, and by 2006 he was conducting 150 surgeries within 14.5 hours. All of these "mass" operations have been performed single-handedly and free of charge.

During his 18-year career, Dr Singh has performed almost 50,000 surgeries, far surpassing the target of 700 operations a year given by an Indian government directive.