Bridging the language barrier in health awareness.

Bridging the Language Barrier in Health Awareness Awareness of diseases inAfrican communities frequently correlates with the outward manifestation of the disease process. In ophthalmology, the leukokoria of cataract has given rise to several local terms for this cause of blindness. The secondmost commoncauseof blindness in these communities1,2 unfortunately does not have any observable signs to the lay public. A person with glaucoma is frequently unaware of the diseaseprocess (progressivevisual field loss)until thevery last stages.Therapytopreventblindness fromglaucomahasproven effective.3 In the Akan community in Ghana, Ntim-Amponsah et al4 showed that many ascribed loss of sight from glaucoma to kooko. Literally translated as hemorrhoids, kooko represents any disease considered better treated by traditional remedies. To bridge the gap between public awareness and presentation/acceptanceof therapy, health educationwill be key.We report a study investigating the use of a local word for glaucoma compared with the medical terminology. Ethical permissionwasgivenbythemunicipal ethicscommitteeofAsante Akyem North, Ghana, and the ethics committee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.