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Through the bubble: A patient’s perspective on macula hole surgery pre- and postoperatively

The evolution of ophthalmic surgical practice over the past seven decades has been extraordinary. Within this period, the first vitrectomy was performed, establishing a foundation for what is now an operation performed thousands of times per year in the UK...

Gambia-Swansea Partnership: Technical support in our 16-year partnership

I have been involved in the Gambia-Swansea VISION 2020 LINK now for more than 16 years. I hope that this article will be of some interest to anyone considering volunteering overseas, as part of a LINK or in any other...

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...

Diabetic retinopathy screening in Belize: a country’s journey towards reducing blindness from DR

The rise of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications is a public health concern in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) Programme, managed by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and funded by the Queen Elizabeth...

IN FOCUS - VISION 2020 LINKS Programme: the contribution of health partnerships to reduction in blindness worldwide

As other articles in this series (IN FOCUS Apr 2020) demonstrate, the year 2020 is highly significant in the eye care field. Naming a global initiative ‘VISION 2020: The Right to Sight’ in 1999 was a daring way to focus...

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...

Optic nerve swelling – your survival guide (part 1)

Assessment of optic nerve appearance and functions is a daily routine in neuro-ophthalmology. Following a recent high profile court case there has been a significant increase in the amount of referral to ophthalmology departments to assess the optic nerve and...

#KnowYourDrops: breaking down barriers to poor compliance

Award-winning* #KnowYourDrops eye drop compliance campaign helps patients for World Glaucoma Week to achieve medicines optimisation in ophthalmology. The #KnowYourDrops campaign is fast becoming an internationally recognised model to help support healthcare professionals, with the provision of better tailored ophthalmic...

Optimising the ocular surface by managing meibomian gland dysfunction

Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is ubiquitous. Ocular surface inflammation and irritation are prevalent in most ophthalmology clinics: corneal, cataract, glaucoma, oculoplastic, paediatric, vitreo-retinal, medical retina and refractive surgery. These patients also represent roughly one third of those attending for emergency...

Developments in oculoplastic surgery

A study of NHS practice demonstrated significant patient-reported quality-of-life improvements from commonly performed oculoplastic operations: entropion repair, ectropion repair, ptosis repair and dacrocystorhinostomy (DCR) [1]. In recent years, surgical and non-surgical approaches to functional and aesthetic oculoplastic surgery have advanced...

A paradigm shift in the way we approach cataract surgery

Cataract surgery is the most common elective surgical procedure in the UK [1], with in the region of 350,000 cases being conducted each year. With an ageing population, this figure will only continue to rise over time. Cataract surgery is...