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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...

Commonwealth nations join forces to prevent blindness from diabetes

More than 70 representatives from 10 Commonwealth countries (in the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions) and Indonesia gathered at a five-day workshop in November 2014 to establish district or national plans to reduce blindness from diabetic retinopathy (DR). The event...

The Makassar-Dundee VISION 2020 LINK: a tale of two cities and two trainees

A resident’s view from Makassar My name is Hendra Kusuma, a final year resident (registrar) in the ophthalmology department at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, Indonesia. We have had a VISION 2020 LINK with Dundee (coordinated at the UK end by...

Advanced Glaucoma Surgery Course in Africa through the Juba-Bournemouth VISION 2020 LINK

In order to enhance specialist skills, particularly for South Sudan, the Juba-Bournemouth VISION 2020 LINK has been offering week-long intensive ophthalmic specialist training for the last three years, in collaboration with the University of Nairobi, the College of Ophthalmology of...

Capacity building for ophthalmic nursing in Ghana, Botswana and Tanzania

Ophthalmic nurses (ON) have been the backbone of eye health services in Africa since the mid-20th century and remain the largest single cadre of allied ophthalmic personnel in Commonwealth countries in Africa. Numbers are currently estimated at between 3500 and...

Diabetic Retinopathy Network laser training programme

The VISION 2020 Diabetic Retinopathy Network (DR-NET) was established in 2014 to tackle the increasing burden of diabetes and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in developing countries [1]. By forming a network of long-term LINK capacity-building partnerships, learning and best practice can...

Glaucoma-NET: a novel way of improving glaucoma management in sub-Saharan Africa

Background Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness worldwide [1]. People with untreated glaucoma suffer from irreversible, progressive loss of sight. The disease is characterised by progressive loss of visual field, with pathological cupping of the optic disc...

Insights from the ‘Rb-NET Challenges’ Session: Evolving approaches in global retinoblastoma management

The Retinoblastoma Network (Rb-NET) Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) platform, developed by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Professor Ido Didi Fabian, is a web-based telemedicine initiative that regularly hosts virtual MDT meetings focused on the evaluation and...

DR-NET National DR Workshop in Tanzania: Policy, training and technology

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of moderate to severe visual impairment (VI) and blindness worldwide, posing a significant public health challenge. As the prevalence of diabetes continues to rise globally, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the...