Electoral participation of people with and without disabilities in urban communities in Cameroon and Senegal.

Background: The right to participate in political processes is fundamental to democratic governance, economic development and human rights.

Objectives: We assessed participation in political processes and also explored factors associated with voting at the most recent election for people with and without disabilities.

Method: We conducted cross-sectional survey in four cities in Senegal and three in Cameroon in 2021.

Differences in need for and access to eye health services between older people with and without disability: A cross-sectional survey in four districts of northern Uganda.

Eye health and disability are both common among older people, and it is important to understand how disability relates to visual health status and access to services. While people with disabilities face barriers to accessing health services, few studies have measured participants' functional status in domains other than vision and little evidence exists on how disability impacts eye health services access. This paper describes how visual impairment and access to eye health services differ between people aged 50 years and above with and without disability in Karamoja, Uganda, and explores the factors driving that difference.

Disability and labour market participation among smallholder farmers in Western Kenya.

Background: Despite the importance of labour market participation and the high number of people with disabilities in rural Africa who rely on subsistence agriculture to survive, very few studies have documented labour market outcomes among farmers with and without disabilities in Africa.

Objective: We examined how labour market participation differed by disability and other factors among smallholder farmers in Western Kenya.

Methods: We use cross-sectional data collected between January and April 2022 from sorghum farmers enrolled in a trial evaluating the impact of a programme designed to improve labour market participation among sorghum farmers in rural Western Kenya.

Prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment in Kogi state, Nigeria-Findings from a Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness survey.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment among adults in Kogi, Nigeria.

Methods: A Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness (RAAB) protocol was used with additional tools measuring disability and household wealth to measure the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment (VI) and associations with sex, disability, wealth, cataract surgical coverage and its effectiveness.

Results: Age- and sex-adjusted all-cause prevalence of bilateral blindness was 3.

Evidence on cataract in low- and middle-income countries: an updated review of reviews using the evidence gap maps approach.

In 2014, Sightsavers developed the first evidence gap map (EGM) to assess the extent and quality of review-level evidence on cataract relevant to low-and middle-income countries. The EGM identified 52 studies across five broad themes. This paper reports the update of the EGM conducted in 2021 and changes to the extent and quality of the evidence base.

Assessing the prevalence of refractive errors and accuracy of vision screening by schoolteachers in Liberia.

Background: Evidence indicates that school-based vision screening by trained teachers is an effective way of identifying and addressing potential vision problems in schoolchildren. However, inconsistencies have been reported in both the testing methods and accuracy of the screeners. This study assessed the prevalence of refractive errors and accuracy of screening by teachers in Grand Kru County, Liberia.

Vision impairment and self-reported anxiety and depression in older adults in Nigeria: evidence from a cross-sectional survey in Kogi State.

Background: More than 2 billion people are thought to be living with some form of vision impairment worldwide. Yet relatively little is known about the wider impacts of vision loss on individual health and well-being, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study estimated the associations between all-cause vision impairment and self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression among older adults in Kogi State, Nigeria.

Measuring the impact of a training intervention for early childhood centre staff on child development outcomes: Findings from a cluster randomized control field trial in rural Malawi.

Background: Evidence from low-income settings around early education interventions that can improve young children's development is sparse, particularly with regard to the most marginalized children. This study used a two-arm parallel cluster randomized control design to evaluate the impact of an adapted staff training programme on the developmental outcomes of children attending community-based early learning centres in Thyolo district, rural Malawi.

Methods: At baseline we randomly selected 48 centres, from each of which 20 children were randomly selected, although data from one centre was incomplete resulting in 932 children from 47 centres.

Diabetic retinopathy service delivery and integration into the health system in Pakistan-Findings from a multicentre qualitative study.

This paper is based on qualitative research carried out in a diabetic retinopathy (DR) programme in three districts of Pakistan. It analyses the organisation and delivery of DR services and the extent to which the interventions resulted in a fully functioning integrated approach to DR care and treatment. Between January and April 2019, we conducted 14 focus group discussions and 37 in-depth interviews with 144 purposively selected participants: patients, lady health workers (LHWs) and health professionals.

Understanding patient health-seeking behaviour to optimise the uptake of cataract surgery in rural Kenya, Zambia and Uganda: findings from a multisite qualitative study.

Background: Cataract is a major cause of visual impairment globally, affecting 15.2 million people who are blind, and another 78.8 million who have moderate or severe visual impairment.

Eye Health Service Uptake among People with Visual Impairment and Other Functional Difficulties in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study with Short-Term Follow Up.

People with visual impairments are disproportionately likely to also have other impairments. However, little is known about whether these other impairments affect access to eye health services. This study among cataract and refractive error patients in four districts in Bangladesh explores the relationship between self-reported difficulties in hearing, mobility, self-care, communication and cognition domains, eye health service uptake, and location of initial eye health assessment.

Task-shifting eye care to ophthalmic community health officers (OCHO) in Sierra Leone: A qualitative study.

Background: Preventing visual impairment due to avoidable causes has been a long-standing global priority. Of all blindness in Sierra Leone, 91.5% is estimated to be avoidable and 58.

Changes in Eye Health and Service Coverage in Nampula, Mozambique between 2011 and 2018.

Purpose: Globally, there are few examples of repeated eye health surveys to assess changes in prevalence and causes of visual impairment, and service coverage over time. Two separate, unlinked rapid assessments of avoidable blindness (RAAB) were conducted in Nampula province, Mozambique in 2011 and 2018. This paper reports the observed changes and examines how the trends differ for males and females.

Livelihood outcomes in a cohort of youth with disabilities following participation in an economic empowerment programme in rural Uganda.

Background: Little evidence exists on the livelihoods of young people with disabilities in low- and middle-income settings.

Objective: This study examined employability and livelihood outcomes among a cohort of youth with disabilities who participated in an economic empowerment programme in rural Uganda.

Methods: Prospective cohort of youth with disabilities participating in an economic empowerment programme in rural Uganda.

Understanding the role of lady health workers in improving access to eye health services in rural Pakistan - findings from a qualitative study.

Background: In 1994, the Lady Health Workers (LHWs) Programme was established in Pakistan to increase access to essential primary care services and support health systems at the household and community levels. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province in northern Pakistan, eye care is among the many unmet needs that LHWs were trained to address, including screening and referral of people with eye conditions to health facilities. However, despite an increase in referrals by LHWs, compliance with referrals in KPK has been very low.

School-based vision screening in Quetta, Pakistan: a qualitative study of experiences of teachers and eye care providers.

Background: Visual impairment in children is a significant public health problem affecting millions of children globally. Many eye problems experienced by children can be easily diagnosed and treated. We conducted a qualitative study with teachers and optometrists involved in a school-based vision screening programme in Quetta district of Pakistan to explore their experiences of training, vision screening and referrals and to identify factors impacting on the effectiveness of the programme.

Factors associated with the uptake of cataract surgery and interventions to improve uptake in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review.

Despite significant evidence around barriers hindering timely access to cataract surgery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), little is known about the strategies necessary to overcome them and the factors associated with improved access. Despite significant evidence that certain groups, women for example, experience disproportionate difficulties in access, little is known about how to improve the situation for them. Two reviews were conducted recently: Ramke et al.

Prevalence of Visual Impairment and Coverage of Cataract Surgical Services: Associations with Sex, Disability, and Economic Status in Five Diverse Sites.

Purpose: Prevalence of visual impairment (VI) and access to services can vary significantly across and between different population groups. With renewed focus on universal health coverage and leaving no one behind, it is important to understand factors driving inequitable eye health. This paper presents results from five population-based surveys where prevalence of VI and cataract surgical coverage (CSC) were measured and examined for differences by sex, economic-status, and disability.

Strengths and weaknesses of eye care services in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-synthesis of eye health system assessments.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the delivery of eye care services continues to be undermined by health systems performance bottlenecks. There is a growing focus by partners in the sector on the analysis of the different components of eye care within the wider health system context to diagnose and manage interactions in ways that achieve more effective improvements. However, there has been no attempt to date to systematically synthesize these studies.

Estimated prevalence of disability and developmental delay among preschool children in rural Malawi: Findings from "Tikule Limodzi," a cross-sectional survey.

Background: Early childhood development (ECD) is a critical stage in children's lives, influencing future development and social integration. ECD research among children with disability and developmental delay in low- and middle-income countries is limited but crucial to inform planning and delivery of inclusive services. This study is the first to measure and compare the prevalence of disability and developmental delay among children attending preschool centres in rural Malawi.

Integrating Geospatial Data and Measures of Disability and Wealth to Assess Inequalities in an Eye Health Survey: An Example from the Indian Sunderbans.

The Sunderbans are a group of delta islands that straddle the border between India and Bangladesh. For people living on the Indian side, health services are scarce and the terrain makes access to what is available difficult. In 2018, the international non-governmental organisation Sightsavers and their partners conducted a population-based survey of visual impairment and coverage of cataract and spectacle services, supplemented with tools to measure equity in eye health by wealth, disability, and geographical location.

Integration of eye health into primary care services in Tanzania: a qualitative investigation of experiences in two districts.

Background: Visual impairment is a public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa, affecting nearly 5% of the population. Efforts to combat avoidable causes have been hampered by weak health systems and little evidence exists to suggest what interventions may be effective to improve the situation. Despite this, there are calls to promote some specific interventions, one of which being the closer integration of eye health services into health systems, often focusing on training primary health workers to deliver basic eye health services.

Education and social inclusion of people with disabilities in five countries in West Africa: a literature review.

Purpose: An estimated 1 billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the "Leave no one behind" agenda, there is a global momentum to ensure that disadvantaged groups, not least people with disabilities, are included and accounted for, in mainstream development efforts. However, in many low-income settings little is known about disability and the policies and programs in place to improve the lives of those affected.