The European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons is marking the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the EUREQUO Registry with the announcement that this cataract and refractive database has now grown to more than 4 million surgical procedures.
In the first of the two articles (see Part 2 here) on paediatric cataracts, Samuel Aryee reviews the aetiology of this condition. Cataracts arise from opacification of the natural transparent lens, which can cause partial or total blindness. Although the...
A five-year project funded by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust is facilitating development of diabetic retinopathy services (DRS) to reduce unnecessary blindness in 10 Commonwealth countries through the establishment of a capacity-building network, the DR-NET part of the Commonwealth...
Malawi is a small land-locked country in eastern Africa with a growing population of over 17 million people. About 45% of the population is aged 14 or under; only 5% are aged 60 or over. The gross national income per...
1 April 2019
| Dylan Costello, Muchai Gachago, Josiah Onyango, Robert Taylor, Mike Burdon, Marcia Zondervan
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Ophthalmology
Eye health problems and access to diagnosis and treatment is an important issue throughout low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and particularly on the African continent, where quality of life is drastically affected by poor vision, blindness and deteriorating eye health,...
1 April 2020
| Marcia Zondervan, Gerald Msukwa, Josiah Onyango, Mike Burdon, Allen Foster (Prof)
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Ophthalmology
As other articles in this series (IN FOCUS Apr 2020) demonstrate, the year 2020 is highly significant in the eye care field. Naming a global initiative ‘VISION 2020: The Right to Sight’ in 1999 was a daring way to focus...
Can you give us a brief overview of the organisation and its hope for the future? Orbis International is a global non-governmental organisation (NGO) which is dedicated to the prevention of blindness. We’ve now been going since 1982. We’re very...
Wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is characterised by choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) formation. It is thought that localised hypoxia within the retina results in overexpression of growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which induces CNVM formation. VEGF...
Simerdip Kaur takes a look at the latest ophthalmology-related news stories and asks which are based on facts and which are ‘fake news’. Headline: Can OCT predict Alzheimer’s disease? In 1986 Hinton et al. demonstrated evidence of optic nerve degeneration...
The rise of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications is a public health concern in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) Programme, managed by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and funded by the Queen Elizabeth...
In a recent discussion with colleagues, someone recognised that many, when asked what they do, say, “I am a doctor”. Rather than “I work as a doctor”. This sense of belonging, pride and duty comes with responsibility. Becoming a surgeon,...
My decision to undertake elective in Thailand was made to help broaden my horizons on ophthalmic conditions and practices. Additionally, I hoped to improve my Thai medical vocabulary to communicate with Thai patients fluently. As I got an opportunity to...