OBJECTIVE To determine the causes and prevalence of ocular morbidity among primary school children in Ilorin, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross sectional survey of primary school children in 10 randomly selected primary schools within Ilorin, Nigeria was carried out between July 2005 and January 2006. Relevant ocular history and basic ocular examinations were carried out on the children ...

AIMS To determine the causes of severe visual impairment and blindness (SVI/BL) in children in Suriname (Dutch Guyana) and to identify preventable and treatable causes. METHODS 4643 children under 16 years of age were recruited from two locations: 33 children attending the only school for the blind were examined and 4610 medical records were analysed at an eye clinic. Data have been collected...

BACKGROUND In the final push toward the elimination of avoidable blindness, cataract occupies a position of eminence for the success of the Right to Sight initiative. AIMS Review existing situation and assess what monitoring indicators may be useful to chart progress towards attaining the goals of Vision 2020. SETTINGS AND DESIGN Review of published papers from low and middle income countri...

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence and causes of blindness and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Jazan district, Southern Saudi Arabia. METHODS Using the standardized Rapid Assessment for Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) and DR cross-sectional methodology, 3800 subjects were randomly selected from the population of ≥50 years of age in Jazan, Saudi Arabia between November 2011 and January 2012. Parti...

heard of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), but they may not be aware of exactly what the organisation does and how it functions. The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of what IAPB does and how it contributes to the elimination of avoidable blindness in the world. The IAPB was established in 1975 as a coordinating umbrella organisation to lead int...

PURPOSE This study is a review of the major causes of visual impairment (VI) and severe visual impairment/blindness (SVI/BL) in Mount Popa Taung-Kalat, a rural region in Myanmar (Burma). METHODS A review of our clinical records of consecutive patients attending clinics was conducted. Participants of all ages (n = 650) of the population of Mount Popa Taung-Kalat and villages in its vicinity un...

Objectives To determine the causes of severe visual impairment and blindness (SVI/BL) among students in schools for the blind in Northwest Ethiopia and to identify preventable and treatable causes. Method Students attending nine schools for the blind in Northwest Ethiopia were examined and causes assigned using the standard WHO record form for children with blindness and low vision in May and...

There is little information about the epidemiology of congenital eye anomalies in Ghana. We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 485 admissions to the paediatric eye centre of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Ghana (2004-2009) and 263 were diagnosed with at least one anomaly. Visual acuity was quantitatively assessed in 209 patients and 130 had some visual impairment; 49 with bilater...