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VISION 2020 LINKS Programme: building capacity for eye care services in Nigeria through leadership and skills development

The Lagos-Bolton VISION 2020 LINK started in December 2011. It is one of 29 LINKS now running in the VISION 2020 LINKS Programme [1]. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with a current population of 178 million, projected...

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...

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...

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...

What’s new in wet AMD papers?

Paper presentations on neovascular (‘wet’) age-related macular degeneration (AMD) from the 16th European Society of Retina Specialists Congress, Copenhagen, September 2016, outline recent research directions evaluating the impact of vision loss on key health domains, patient preferences in the process...

Ophthalmology research: lessons from the Academic Foundation Programme

The author discusses practical lessons learned during eight months of ophthalmology research as a guide for candidates considering a research themed AFP post, with general tips for anyone undertaking research whilst balancing clinical duties. Ophthalmology is already one of the...

My ophthalmic elective: focusing on myopia in Taiwan

The authors describe their elective experience and delve further into high myopia, an emerging ophthalmic disease that is increasingly recognised in and outside Asia. The medical school elective programme presents an opportunity for students to conduct learning in their chosen...

Ophthalmology clinical teaching and research fellowships: a pathway into ophthalmology specialty training

Ophthalmology is known for being one of the most competitive medical specialties in the UK, with 6.8 applicants per post in 2021. In fact, the competition ratio has drastically increased in recent years, rising from 5.73 in 2020 and 3.24...

Corneal transplantation in the United Kingdom: are we blind to the challenges that still exist after the Organ Donation Bill?

Corneal transplantation (CT) is a significant treatment option for a huge number of patients in the United Kingdom (UK) [1]. For an individual, CT results in a substantial improvement in quality of life. Penetrating keratoplasty with full thickness grafting has...

Ophthalmology in a War Zone: an interview with Dr Volodymyr Melnyk

It is now nine months since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced in late February 2022, with Putin announcing a “special military operation” to “denazify and demilitarise” Ukraine. The rest of the world, however, saw it for what it...

Herpes zoster ophthalmicus: a clinician’s perspective

Introduction Herpes zoster, commonly known as shingles, is caused by the reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV). The term herpes is derived from a Greek work, herpein, which means ‘creeping’ and the word zoster means a belt or a girdle...