Non-compliance for wearing spectacles: Prevalence and determinants in school-going children in South India.

Purpose: To study the prevalence and determinants of compliance with spectacle wear among school-age children in South India who were given spectacles free of charge under a school vision screening program.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed. The participants were recruited from the school from Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts of Tamil Nadu, where a school vision screening camp was conducted between January 2012 and October 2012.

Identifying barriers to referrals in preschool-age ocular screening in Southern India.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify barriers to follow-up among children aged 0-5 years who failed ocular screening.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted for screening children aged 0-5 years, covering three districts of South India from January 2012 to December 2012. Screening was performed under Lavelle Paediatric Eye Care Project, included under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) program.

Impact of systematic capacity building on cataract surgical service development in 25 hospitals.

Background: This study measured the effectiveness and cost of a capacity building intervention in 25 eye hospitals in South Asia, East Africa and Latin America over 4 years. The intervention involved eye care non-governmental organizations or high-performing eye hospitals acting as "mentors" to underperforming eye hospitals- "mentees" in 10 countries. Intervention activities included systematic planning and support for training and key equipment purchases as well as hospital-specific mentoring which focused on strengthening leadership, increasing the volume and equity of community outreach, improving surgical quality and volume, strengthening organizational and financial management and streamlining operational processes.