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Diabetes and diabetic retinopathy: Changes in understanding of the disease over the last 25 years and how the UK is helping low-income countries tackle the challenges

Diabetes – a historical perspective Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease caused by inherited and / or acquired deficiency in production of insulin by the pancreas, or by the ineffectiveness of the insulin produced. Such a deficiency results in...

A closer look at the new wave of glaucoma surgery – radical or old school?

Glaucoma is a challenging condition to treat because the exact pathophysiology remains unclear and the only readily modifiable factor is the intraocular pressure (IOP). Additionally, most glaucoma patients are completely asymptomatic, yet are often subjected to lifelong medical therapy. The...

Renewed momentum in ocular gene and cell therapy, broadening application to chronic disease

Gene and cell therapies offer the prospect of ground-breaking new avenues for the treatment of diseases, reflected in a renewed explosion of interest and investment in retinal gene therapy. Rod McNeil reports recent clinical trial readouts across a diverse range...

Danger Zone: Miles Hilton-Barber

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all” – Helen Keller, deafblind American author, activist, and disability rights advocate I have always had a thirst for adventure, even if it has been predominantly from the comfort of my...

The Real Top Gun: Professor Steve Schallhorn

Steve Schallhorn: Fighter Pilot. In the spring of 1987, I travelled to the cinema at Hendon Central in London with some school friends to watch the newly released movie The Witches of Eastwick starring Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer. Unfortunately...

Eyes on the road – visual standards for car drivers

The author examines the current visual standards required by drivers and asks whether more needs to be done to make roads safer. Are the public adequately protected by the current system of visual standards required by drivers? In a survey...

Building leaders for eye care in Africa: the COECSA-RCOphth VISION 2020 LINK

The VISION 2020 LINK [1] between the College of Ophthalmology of Eastern, Central and Southern Africa (COECSA) and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) has been building leaders of eye care in Africa since 2008, when a Memorandum of Understanding...

Sustainable prevention of blindness from diabetic retinopathy through prevention and control of diabetes mellitus – LINK partnership experience in Dominica

The Caribbean Diabetic Retinopathy Project (DR Caribbean) is a five-year project that aims to reduce blindness due to diabetic retinopathy (DR) across four Commonwealth countries: Belize, Dominica, Jamaica and St Lucia. The VISION 2020 LINKS Programme at the London School...

IN FOCUS - The achievements and lasting effects of VISION 2020

Blindness is a major public health problem globally. The first estimate of global blindness by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1972 provided a figure of 10 to 15 million, which was considered an underestimate [1]. In 1999, an extraordinary...

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...

Back-to-back congresses in Africa highlight international collaboration to advance eye health

The ISOO Africa 2023 Congress The first International Society of Ocular Oncology (ISOO) [1] conference to be held in Africa took place in Mombasa, Kenya, from 21-23 August 2023. Participants came from all over Africa, as well as the US,...