Utilisation of public eye care services by the rural community residents in the Capricorn district, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Accessibility of and barriers to the use of eye health services in Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

BACKGROUND

 There is a high prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in Africa. The poor access to eye health services, among other barriers, has been found to have a considerable effect on the burden of avoidable vision loss and blindness, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

AIM

 To determine the accessibility of and barriers to the utilisation of eye health services in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana.

SETTING

 A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in the Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti Region in Ghana to identify barriers affecting the utilisation of eye health services.

METHODS

 Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants visiting the eye clinics at five selected District Municipal Hospitals for the first time. Data were collected by means of questionnaires and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

RESULTS

 Barriers faced by participants when accessing eye health services included distance to the clinic, cost of services, time spent away from work and/or school, self-medication and long waiting periods.

CONCLUSION

 The study found that eye care services in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana are largely accessible, but underutilised. Improvement of public health education initiatives through engagement with community groups will also enhance uptake at health care facilities.Contribution: Underutilisation of health services in the Metropolis has been identified in the study and must be addressed by health managers in various sectors. Accessibility is relatively good but can further be improved especially for the elderly to be able to utilise health care services with ease.

Exploring the knowledge, attitudes, and practice towards child eye health: A qualitative analysis of parent experience focus groups

BACKGROUND

The majority of childhood blindness causes in low-income countries are treatable or avoidable. Parents or guardians are responsible for making decisions regarding a child's eye care. Understanding parents' awareness and perception of eye problems in crucial in helping to know parents' eye care-seeking behavior.

OBJECTIVE

To determine parental knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding child eye health.

METHODS

Seven focus groups were carried out in Northwest Ethiopia on knowledge, attitude and practice of parents towards child eye health. Their responses were tape-recorded and later transcribed. A thematic phenomenological approach was used for the analysis.

RESULT

Seventy-one parents participated in the focus groups. Participants were aware of common eye problems like trachoma, trauma, and glaucoma. However, they were unaware of the causes and etiologies of childhood blindness. Participants perceived that eye problems could be treated with hygiene and food, and often held misconceptions about the cause of strabismus and utilization of wearing spectacles.

CONCLUSION

The study revealed that parents are often unaware of the causes and etiologies of common childhood eye diseases, which has downstream effects on health-seeking behavior. Health promotion efforts, potentially through mass and social media, could be helpful to raise awareness, coupled with training of health professionals at primary and secondary health facility levels.

Ocular Disease Therapeutics: Design and Delivery of Drugs for Diseases of the Eye

The ocular drug discovery field has evidenced significant advancement in the past decade. The FDA approvals of Rhopressa, Vyzulta, and Roclatan for glaucoma, Brolucizumab for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD), Luxturna for retinitis pigmentosa, Dextenza (0.4 mg dexamethasone intracanalicular insert) for ocular inflammation, ReSure sealant to seal corneal incisions, and Lifitegrast for dry eye represent some of the major developments in the field of ocular therapeutics. A literature survey also indicates that gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and target discovery through genomic research represent significant promise as potential strategies to achieve tissue repair or regeneration and to attain therapeutic benefits in ocular diseases. Overall, the emergence of new technologies coupled with first-in-class entries in ophthalmology are highly anticipated to restructure and boost the future trends in the field of ophthalmic drug discovery. This perspective focuses on various aspects of ocular drug discovery and the recent advances therein. Recent medicinal chemistry campaigns along with a brief overview of the structure-activity relationships of the diverse chemical classes and developments in ocular drug delivery (ODD) are presented.