Case Finding and Management of Childhood Cataracts: The Role of a Child Eye Health Programme in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Objective: To evaluate the output of a child eye health programme in terms of identification, referral, and volume of paediatric cataract surgeries in Kaduna State, Nigeria.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective review of the North-West Nigeria Child Eye Health Initiative programme referral registers at primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals in Kaduna State. Theatre registers of children 0-16 years who had cataract surgery at National Eye Centre Kaduna between 2016 and 2019 were also reviewed.

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.

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.

The future of data management for pediatric cataract.

Cataract is a leading cause of blindness in children worldwide. Blindness can be treated with effective surgery, but in low-resource settings this treatment can be difficult to access. In addition, positive outcomes of the surgery are heavily dependent on comprehensive postoperative care.

Willingness to pay for cataract surgery is much lower than actual costs in Zamfara state, northern Nigeria.

Purpose: Direct medical and non-medical costs incurred by those undergoing subsidised cataract surgery at Gusau eye clinic, Zamfara state, were recently determined. The aim of this study was to assess the willingness to pay for cataract surgery among adults with severe visual impairment or blindness from cataract in rural Zamfara and to compare this to actual costs.

Methods: In three rural villages served by Gusau eye clinic, key informants helped identify 80 adults with bilateral severe visual impairment or blindness (<6/60), with cataract being the cause in at least one eye.

Is mass drug administration against lymphatic filariasis required in urban settings? The experience in Kano, Nigeria.

Background: The Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis (GPELF), launched in 2000, has the target of eliminating the disease as a public health problem by the year 2020. The strategy adopted is mass drug administration (MDA) to all eligible individuals in endemic communities and the implementation of measures to reduce the morbidity of those suffering from chronic disease. Success has been recorded in many rural endemic communities in which elimination efforts have centered.

Direct non-medical costs double the total direct costs to patients undergoing cataract surgery in Zamfara state, Northern Nigeria: a case series.

Background: Cost is frequently reported as a barrier to cataract surgery, but few studies have reported costs of accessing surgery in Africa. The purpose of this prospective, facility based study was to compare direct non-medical cost with total direct cost of cataract surgery to patients, and to assess how money was found to cover costs.

Methods: Participants were those aged 17 years and above attending their first post-operative visit after first eye, subsidised, day case cataract surgery.