Assessing the cataract surgical rate and gender equity in cataract services in south-east Nigeria.

Background: In 2020, almost 100 million people were blind or visually impaired from cataract. Cataract surgery is a cost-effective treatment for cataracts. In Nigeria, twice as many women are cataract blind as men.

Assessing the capacity of primary health care facilities in Nigeria to deliver eye health promotion: Results of a mixed-methods feasibility study.

Over 25 million people in sub-Saharan Africa are blind or visually impaired, the majority from avoidable causes. Health promotion and disease prevention are important strategies for eye health, through good governance, health literacy and increasing access to eye care services. To increase equity in access for eyecare services, the World Health Organization Africa Region developed a package of interventions for primary eye care, which includes health promotion.

Primary health care facility readiness to implement primary eye care in Nigeria: equipment, infrastructure, service delivery and health management information systems.

Background: Over two-thirds of Africans have no access to eye care services. To increase access, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends integrating eye care into primary health care, and the WHO Africa region recently developed a package for primary eye care. However, there are limited data on the capacities needed for delivery, to guide policymakers and implementers on the feasibility of integration.

Human resource and governance challenges in the delivery of primary eye care: a mixed methods feasibility study in Nigeria.

Background: To increase access to eye care, the World Health Organization's Africa Region recently launched a primary eye care (PEC) package for sub-Saharan Africa. To determine the technical feasibility of implementing this package, the capacity of health systems at primary level needs to be assessed, to identify capacity gaps that would need to be addressed to deliver effective and sustainable PEC. This study reports on the human resource and governance challenges for delivering PEC in Anambra State, Nigeria.

Case series of retinopathy of prematurity blindness in Nigeria: A wakeup call to policy makers, hospitals, ophthalmologists and paediatricians.

Background Statement: Inadequate retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) screening coverage portends a high risk for increasing the cases of ROP blindness. This study aims to report the clinical profile of pre-term babies who developed ROP blindness, highlight the usefulness in determining screening criteria and the role of private hospitals in ROP blindness prevention.

Case Series Report: Online Google form and telephone survey was conducted from May to December 2020 among paediatric ophthalmologists who provided the clinical details of ROP blind children seen between 2016 and 2020.

How can we improve the quality of cataract services for all? A global scoping review.

Background: Cataract is a leading cause of blindness and vision impairment globally. Cataract surgery is one of the most frequently performed operations worldwide, but good quality services are not universally available. This scoping review aims to summarise the nature and extent of published literature on interventions to improve the quality of services for age-related cataract globally.

Refractive Error and Visual Impairment Among School Children: Result of a South-Eastern Nigerian Regional Survey.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence refractive errors and causes of visual impairment in school children in the south-eastern region of Nigeria.

Methods: School-based cross-sectional samples of children 5 to 15 of age in both urban and rural areas were profiled through cluster sampling. The main outcome measures were presenting, uncorrected, and best-corrected visual acuity using the Refractive Error in School-age Children (RESC) protocol.

Technical capacities needed to implement the WHO's primary eye care package for Africa: results of a Delphi process.

Objective: The aim of the study was to establish the technical capacities needed to deliver the WHO African Region's primary eye care package in primary healthcare facilities.

Design: A two-round Delphi exercise was used to obtain expert consensus on the technical complexity of each component of the package and the technical capacities needed to deliver them using Gericke's framework of technical feasibility. The panel comprised nine eyecare experts in primary eyecare in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Technical Feasibility of Integrating Primary Eye Care Into Primary Health Care Systems in Nigeria: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Approximately 90% of the 253 million blind or visually impaired people worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries. Lack of access to eye care is why most people remain or become blind. The World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO) recently launched a primary eye care (PEC) package for sub-Saharan Africa-the WHO-AFRO PEC package-for integration into the health system at the primary health care (PHC) level.

Travel burden and clinical presentation of retinoblastoma: analysis of 1024 patients from 43 African countries and 518 patients from 40 European countries.

Background: The travel distance from home to a treatment centre, which may impact the stage at diagnosis, has not been investigated for retinoblastoma, the most common childhood eye cancer. We aimed to investigate the travel burden and its impact on clinical presentation in a large sample of patients with retinoblastoma from Africa and Europe.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis including 518 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 40 European countries and 1024 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 43 African countries.

Interventions to improve the quality of cataract services: protocol for a global scoping review.

Introduction: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness globally and a major cause of vision impairment. Cataract surgery is an efficacious intervention that usually restores vision. Although it is one of the most commonly conducted surgical interventions worldwide, good quality services (from being detected with operable cataract to undergoing surgery and receiving postoperative care) are not universally accessible.

Are we advancing universal health coverage through cataract services? Protocol for a scoping review.

Introduction: Universal health coverage (UHC) includes the dimensions of equity in access, quality services that improve health and protection against financial hardship. Cataract continues to be the leading cause of blindness globally, despite cataract surgery being an efficacious intervention. The aim of this scoping review is to map the nature, extent and global distribution of data on cataract services for UHC in terms of equity, access, quality and financial protection.

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level.

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale.

Clinical features and aetiology of cerebral palsy in children from Cross River State, Nigeria.

Objective: There are few studies on cerebral palsy (CP) in African children and our study aimed to describe the aetiology, characteristics and severity of CP in children from Nigeria.

Design: A population-based study using key informant methodology (KIM) was conducted as part of a clinical research trial. Children aged 4-15 years were clinically assessed for CP.

Inequitable coverage of vitamin A supplementation in Nigeria and implications for childhood blindness.

Background: Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is of major public health significance; it is a risk factor for childhood deaths from diarrhoea and measles in low and middle-income countries and an important cause of preventable childhood blindness in low income countries. Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) is being implemented in many LMICs and high coverage reduces the prevalence of blinding corneal diseases in children. However, national estimates of coverage may not reveal any inequities in intra country coverage.

Using Key Informant Method to Determine the Prevalence and Causes of Childhood Blindness in South-Eastern Nigeria.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and causes of childhood blindness in an underserved community in south-eastern Nigeria using the key informant method.

Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Key informants (KI) appointed by their respective communities received 1-day training on identification of blind children in their communities.

Dual sensory impairment in special schools in South-Eastern Nigeria.

In a cross-sectional study to determine the magnitude of dual sensory impairment (DSI-combined hearing and vision loss) in children in single-disability special education schools, children in schools for the blind and schools for the deaf in four states in South-East Nigeria were examined by an ophthalmologist and otorhinolaryngologist to determine the level of their disability and to identify other disabilities if any. Participants were all students with childhood blindness or childhood deafness. The magnitude and causes of DSI and the burden of undetected DSI were the main outcome measures.

Causes and emerging trends of childhood blindness: findings from schools for the blind in Southeast Nigeria.

Aim: To ascertain the causes severe visual impairment and blindness (SVI/BL) in schools for the blind in southeast Nigeria and to evaluate temporal trends.

Methods: All children who developed blindness at <15 years of age in all the three schools for the blind in southeast Nigeria were examined. All the data were recorded on a WHO/Prevention of Blindness (WHO/PBL) form entered into a Microsoft Access database and transferred to STATA V.

Unmet visual needs of children with Down syndrome in an African population: implications for visual and cognitive development.

Purpose: To determine the magnitude and types of ocular disorders in children with Down syndrome in an African population and to assess to what extent these visual needs have been met.


Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of children with Down syndrome attending a school for the mentally challenged in Southeastern Nigeria. Visual acuity, ocular examination, and cycloplegic refraction were done on all cooperative participants.

Challenges in the management of paediatric cataract in a developing country.

Aim: To review the management of cataract in children in a tertiary hospital in a developing country, and to highlight the challenges therein.

Methods: The hospital records of children aged 15 years or less that had cataract surgery at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu from 2005 to 2008 were reviewed retrospectively. Information was obtained on bio-data, pre- and post-operative visual acuity (VA), biometry, and type of surgery, use of intraocular lens (IOL) and presence of co-morbidity.