Background/aims: The aim of this study was to understand the picture of low vision service provision within NHS Trusts in the United Kingdom, for children and adults.
Method: A survey was distributed to all members of the British and Irish Orthoptic Society (BIOS) and to all Eye Clinic Liaison Officers (ECLOs) through the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The survey was also directly emailed to Orthoptic contacts of all 238 Trusts/Health Boards, which covered the four nations of the United Kingdom. The survey asked whether their Trust had a clinical low vision service, which professions were involved in leading and working within it, where it was based, and whether provision was offered to children, adults, or both.
Results: In the United Kingdom (UK), 117 out of 238 (49%) Trusts responded. Of these responders, 94% had a level of Trust-delivered low vision service provision; 90% had services for adults; 83% had services for children; and 79% had services for both adults and children. Service accessibility for patients of all ages had regional and national variation.
Conclusion: Significant variation was found in low vision service provision throughout the UK, with some regions having no NHS-delivered provision for either children, adults, or both. This calls for further research to gain a more comprehensive understanding of low vision service provision and remove inequalities in provision, access and resourcing, aiming to ensure equitable access for all.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.22599/bioj.293 | DOI Listing |
BMC Res Notes
January 2025
Helen Keller International, New York, USA.
Objective: Sierra Leone, a country where onchocerciasis is endemic in 14 of the 16 districts, was the focus of our investigation. Despite 17 rounds of annual ivermectin treatment since 2005, a report circulated by a local politician indicated an increase in cases of suspected onchocerciasis-related vision impairment in two villages (Mangobo and Petifu) in Tonkolili district. In response, the National Neglected Tropical Disease Program conducted a comprehensive investigation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Imaging Inform Med
January 2025
Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Rabat, Mohammed V University of Rabat, Rabat, 10000, Morocco.
Gastrointestinal (GI) disease examination presents significant challenges to doctors due to the intricate structure of the human digestive system. Colonoscopy and wireless capsule endoscopy are the most commonly used tools for GI examination. However, the large amount of data generated by these technologies requires the expertise and intervention of doctors for disease identification, making manual analysis a very time-consuming task.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCont Lens Anterior Eye
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China; National Engineering Research Center of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Eye Hospital Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China. Electronic address:
Purpose: To compare the two-year efficacy of spectacle lenses with highly aspherical lenslets (HAL) and orthokeratology (OK) lenses in managing myopia in children.
Methods: This retrospective study examined medical records from the Affiliated Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, involving 1683 HAL users and 1192 OK users. Participants were children aged 8-13 with a refractive error of -0.
Afr J Emerg Med
December 2024
Accident & Emergency Department, The Aga Khan University, Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya.
Background And Objectives: The Kenya Emergency Medical Care (EMC) Policy 2020-2030 was created to guide the advancement of EMC throughout Kenya. This report describes and maps the ongoing EMC policy development process across Kenya's 47 counties, serving as a real-world example of EMC policy development within a decentralized healthcare system in a low-or middle-income country (LMIC).
Methods: This report evaluates the development of county-specific EMC policies using the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) six stages for policy development: 1) problem identification, 2) agenda setting, 3) policy design, 4) approval, 5) implementation, and 6) monitoring and evaluation.
J Public Health Afr
December 2024
Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, United States of America.
Background: Many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) face the daunting task of digitising, maturing and deciding where to invest in digital health systems.
Aim: Describing the facilitators and barriers to conducting digital health maturity assessments and how health leaders can prioritise the assessments.
Setting: eHealth leaders from 10 African countries, working or supporting Ministries of Health's digital health and participating in the eHealth Leaders' Forum from July 2023 to September 2023.
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