Humanitarian
Across the globe and into the world of international eye grading
Decades have passed and the influence of analysing fundus images by grading consultants and retinal image specialists has grown worldwide. Their job is to specialise in assessing hundreds of diagnosed eye disease disorders and to read thousands of eye images,...
Preventing blindness from diabetes: planning a programme of service development and research across Malawi
In sub-Saharan Africa 19.4 million people have diabetes; this is projected to rise to 28.6 million by 2030 [1]. Sight loss from diabetes devastates the lives of working people, affecting the financial stability of the families and communities who depend...
Developing a training model to strengthen diabetic retinopathy screening through a VISION 2020 LINK in India
I. Development of LINK Partnership A VISION 2020 LINK India was established by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2018 between the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and...
The Diabetic Eye Screening Programme in Tanzania - The VISION 2020 LINK between Dodoma and Belfast
Rahila Bashir, Senior Remote Ophthalmic Research Image Grader, talks to Frank Sandi, Ophthalmologist at the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH), University of Dodoma in Tanzania and to Tunde Peto at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust...
VISION 2020 LINKS Programme and DR-NET World Sight Day Workshop
World Sight Day (WSD) was celebrated globally on 8 October 2020 [1]. From Australia and the Pacific to the Americas, via Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, awareness-raising and advocacy activities took place throughout the day, to focus attention on unnecessary...
6.6.2020 – a celebration of international partnerships
The date 6.6.2020 was selected as a significant milestone for celebrating the achievements of the VISION LINKS Programme as part of the global ‘VISION 2020: The Right to Sight’ initiative [1]. This virtual full-day seminar included LINK partners in the...
Increasing access to eye care through community outreach clinics in Uganda
There has been a VISION 2020 LINK between Mulago Hospital and Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and the Royal Free Hospital, London, since 2010. There have been regular training visits between teams from the eye departments at Mulago and the...
South-South collaboration for the treatment of avoidable blindness in Botswana
This article describes the value of South-South collaboration in the reduction of avoidable blindness. Specifically it describes a South-South collaboration between India and Botswana that evolved out of the VISION 2020 LINK between Cambridge University Hospitals, two institutions in India...
Building research capacity through the VISION 2020 LINKS Programme
The aim is to build capacity for research in the region covered by the College of Ophthalmology of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (COECSA). The project will build research capacity in three ophthalmology training institutions by ‘training the trainers’ and...
Leadership skills training through the COECSA-RCOphth LINK
The Lead Forward project was an initiative of the VISION 2020 LINKS Programme, funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) via the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET). It aimed to improve the quality of medical leadership within VISION 2020...
Infection prevention and control through a VISION 2020 LINK between Mombasa and Southampton
The authors share how a partnership between Mombasa and Southampton has enabled Kenyan healthcare professionals from four institutions to innovate and work as a group to improve infection prevention and control. Infection prevention and control (IPC) is a cornerstone of...
Tackling diabetic retinopathy globally through the VISION 2020 LINKS Diabetic Retinopathy Network
It is abundantly clear that the burden of diabetes is rapidly increasing, as there are now 415 million adults with diabetes in the world, with a projected rise to 642 million by 2040 [1]. This equates to 1 in 10...
