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Capacity-building through the COECSA-RCOphth LINK – linking journals in a training and mentorship programme

The College of Ophthalmology of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa (COECSA) [1] and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) [2] have a long-standing health partnership through the VISION 2020 LINKS Programme [3,4]. The LINK started a new project in 2019...

Developing eye health services in Malawi: a personal reflection

Dr Chinsisi Namate reflects on her first two years as a consultant ophthalmologist at the eye unit at Zomba Central Hospital, and how she has already successfully expanded eyecare services for southeast Malawi. The Lions Sight First Eye Hospital in...

Blind Veterans UK calls on eye health professionals to direct blind and vision impaired veterans to vital support

A national charity is asking ophthalmologists and eye health professionals to help them reach out to the tens of thousands of blind and vision impaired ex-service men and women who are currently missing out on vital support to help them...

A focus on Pakistan’s growing eye care needs: over 43 million patients treated for curable blindness free of charge

With 90% of the world’s visually impaired living in developing countries, Pakistan is no exception to this on-going global healthcare challenge. Despite massive leaps over the last few decades in targeting this issue, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that...

The implementation of postoperative day 1 vitrectomy telephone follow-up consultations

In this pre-COVID-19 study, the authors argue that some follow-up consultations can be done by telephone without compromising patient safety. Thirty years ago, a study by Isernhagen et al. [1] found that 52% of patients required some form of unexpected...

Dementia and visual impairment: what is the relationship and are we providing the best care?

Carla Maden discusses the implications of living with both dementia and visual impairment, and how general medical junior doctors and ophthalmologists can help to alleviate this burden and improve the quality of life of such patients. Dementia and visual impairment...

My top five: Influential ophthalmologists

Ophthalmology has witnessed remarkable evolution and advancements throughout history. The field has undergone dramatic change and development since the times of Ancient Egypt where the first reference to eyes was made in the Code of Hammurabi (2250 BC) [1]. From...

Developing a unified approach to low-vision care

RNIB’s Preeti Singla and Louise Gow introduce the Adult Low Vision Service Quality Framework. For individuals living with visual impairment, access to high-quality low vision services can be life changing. Yet, across the UK, these services remain fragmented, with significant...

A semi-automated algorithm for identifying glaucoma patients with blindness

Patients with sight impairment (previously referred to as partial sightedness) or severe sight impairment (previously referred to as blindness) are eligible for a certificate of visual impairment (CVI). Certification confers eligibility for a wide range of benefits administered by local...

Paediatric ophthalmology training in Malawi through the Vision 2020 LINKS Programme: a decade of partnership

Blinding eye disease in children can lead to a lifetime of dependence and non-productivity for the person afflicted. Sometimes a relatively simple condition such as a refractive error can lead to irreversible disability that could, if caught in time, have...

VISION 2020 LINKS: Retinoblastoma 
in Africa

The VISION 2020 LINKS Programme is part of the ‘VISION 2020: The Right to Sight’ global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness [1]. The LINKS Programme works with overseas eye departments to help identify priorities and match their priority needs with...