Vol. 14 July 2005


Dear Readers,


We thank you very much for your encouragement and support offered.

Today this website is being accessed by 1337 users from 105 countries all over the world.

We are working our best to turn out this website become the website for management resources in eye care.

As we are bringing out each issue of SiteNews featuring a specific eye disease, we take you to a detailed exploration on the various resources available on the topic featured from our website.

All these resources make you clearer on the managing issues of the particular topic.

The theme for this issue is “Refractive Error”. Taking inspiration from this theme we have decided to focus this issue on management resources related to Refractive error.

We look forward to your continuous support of our website as well as recommendation of materials that we can add to this storehouse of management resources in eye care.

With your support this resource site will continue to grow and be of relevance!

Happy Reading!

Regards,

Vision 2020 e-resource team
Understand the problem

Barriers

Collaborating Partner

Contribute

Register
 Resources

Strategies

Talk to Us

Past Issues
A summary of the current situation




Refractive error (ametropia) is a disorder that occurs when parallel rays of light entering the non-accommodating eye are not sharply focused on the retina.

When focused in front of the retina, it is called myopia and when focused behind the retina, it is called hypermetropia.

Presbyopia is a condition that develops with aging and results in insufficient accommodation for near work in a patient whose distance refractive error is fully corrected.



Understand the Problem

Recent data suggests that a large number of people are blind in different parts of the world due to high refractive error because they do not use appropriate refractive correction. With blindness defined as presenting distance visual acuity <3/60 in the better eye, the prevalence of blindness due to refractive error has been reported to be as high as 0.2% in India, for all age groups in the population considered together.

The following resources provide you a brief understanding of the problem in Refractive error. It also provides you with links to the most current information and resources you need to address the problem.

Resources

Magnitude

Social and Economic Impact
  • More Research Needed to Assess the Magnitude of Refractive Errors World-wide
    Abstract:
    In order to determine the magnitude and the public health significance of Refractive Error in children of different ethnic origins, and to strengthen the delivery of refractive services, additional data are needed. This article focuses on need for more Research to Assess the Magnitude of Refractive Errors World-wide.

    Source:
    André-Dominique Négrel MD WHO/PBD, Leon B Ellwein MD NIH/NEI, RESC Study Group from Journal of Community Eye Health.

    Clinical Aspects (Causes and Types):
  • REFRACTIVE ERRORS SERIES
    Abstract:
    This booklet provides information on the common type of refractive errors, contact lenses, and refractive surgery.
    Source:
    Dr. P.M. Aravind - Aravind Eye Care System

  • CONTACT LENS FITTING
    Abstract:
    This article explains in detail about the history, types, advantages, and fitting procedures followed for Contact lenses.
    Source:
    R.Kalaiyarasan - Laico Aravind Eye Care System.

Service Delivery:

 Refractive error is one of the most common causes of visual impairment.
Blindness due to refractive error in any population suffers that eye care services in general in that population are inadequate since treatment of refractive error is perhaps the simplest and most effective form of eye care.
In many parts of the world refractive error would become the second largest cause of treatable blindness after cataract if blindness were defined on the basis of presenting distance visual acuity.
  • THE CHALLENGE OF PROVIDING SPECTACLES IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
    Abstract:
    This article discuses the ways to supply good quality spectacles to communities in need. The issues in the provision of spectacles like quality, supply, distribution, cost and acceptance are covered in this article.
    Source:
    Brien A Holden PhD DSc OAM, Sylvie Sulaiman BOptom MComm, Kylie Knox BA (Comm) from journal of community eye health.

  • SPECTACLES FOR THE MILLIONS ADDRESSING A PRIORITY OF "VISION 2020 - THE RIGHT TO SIGHT"
    Abstract:
    This article reveals the fact of refractive errors and the impact of the disorder amongst the world population. Amongst the various disease control priorities under the Vision 2020 global initiative, the one that cuts across all regions is blindness and vision impairment caused by refractive errors. It also addresses that Refractive error can be simply diagnosed, measured and corrected with spectacles.
    Source:
    Mr.R.D.Thulasiraj, Dr.S.Aravind, Keerti Bhushan Pradhan - Aravind Eye Care System.

Resources

Clinical:

Preventive and curative Interventions:

Community:

Infrastructure:

 This implies building a system of eye care on the basis of primary health care and making available the best technology that can be afforded at the public health level. If any blindness-prevention and eye care scheme is to be successful, awareness of eye disease and its prevention and treatment opportunities must be increased in the poorest population groups.

This includes making essential renovation of the Eye Unit and providing all necessary equipment to carry out diagnostic and surgical treatment.

We invite our readers to provide us materials in these areas which will be more useful for our users. You can submit your materials of any type by clicking on the following button.

Submit

Human Resource Development:

 Eye care providers in developing countries face issues different from there colleagues in developed countries including widespread poverty. Overpopulation, illiteracy, malnourishment, limited resources, and an imbalanced distribution (between urban and rural) of an already insufficient number of eye care professionals. The problem, therefore, must be dealt with by an optimal utilization of medical personnel and resources, in the most efficient and economical way possible.
  • THE ROLE OF OPTOMETRY IN VISION 2020
    Abstract:
    This article focuses on the role of optometry in vision 2020. The realisation of the impact of uncorrected refractive error has provided the opportunity for optometry to play a major part in alleviating vision loss for those most in need.
    Source:
    Brien A Holden PhD DSc OAM, Serge Resnikoff MD from Journal of Community Eye Health.

Skills and Competence

 To improve the service of your organization, you will need to ensure that your staff has the skills and competence necessary to perform effectively. This can be attained by selecting the right candidates and providing formal training.
  • QUALITY ASSURANCE IN REFRACTION
    Abstract:
    This book deals with the epidemiology, impact, diagnosis, role of school screening camps, and contact lenses.
    Source:
    Dr. M. Srinivasan, Dr. S. Aravind, Dr. George Vargheese Puthuran, Dr. Chandra Mohan, Dr. Parag Shah - Aravind Eye Care System.

Equipments and Instruments:

 Instrument and equipment maintenance is about constant care, periodic maintenance and immediate repair, when necessary. An instrument repaired is an instrument gained.

-Prof. V. Srinivasan

Instruments and equipments in Refractive error services do not have to be expensive to be effective. Commercial equipments are often scarce in developing countries. Monetory resources are limited and the demand for quality services is high.
  • OPHTHALMIC LENS
    Abstract:
    This article provides a brief resume of the types of spectacle lenses available to the patient for their visual needs.
    Source:
    Mr. P.S. Selva Kumar- Aravind Eye Care System.
  • SLIT LAMP - SOME ASPECTS OF USE IN CLINICAL EXAMINATION
    Abstract:
    This article deals with the relationship between the numerical aperture of the objective lens and the various aspects of the image formed in a slit lamp microscope like magnification and field of view, resolution and contrast, brightness, depth of field and stereopsis is described. The effect on quality of the image due to change in the magnification of the eyepiece, without changing the total magnification of the microscope is pointed out.
    Source:
    Prof. V. Srinivasan from Aravind Eye Care System.
  • OPHTHALMIC INSTRUMENT AND EQUIPMENT - A HANDBOOK ON CARE AND MAINTENANCE
    Abstract:
    This manual provides information on the general maintenance of the ophthalmic instruments and equipments, its management, maintenance protocol with some simple electrical calculations.
    Source:
    Prof. V. Srinivsan, Mr. R.D. Thulasiraj - Aravind Eye Care System.

Barriers

Despite improvements in the availability of blindness preventing and restoring treatment in the developing world, enormous barriers remain to increasing the use of services. The barriers are varying from place to place. The barriers could be from the perspective of the receiver or a client/patient. Few receiver barriers are cost of surgery, Distance to the Hospital, Cultural and Social Barriers, Knowledge of Services.

We invite our readers to provide us materials in these areas which will be more useful for our users. You can submit your materials of any type by clicking on the following button.

Submit



Strategies

Strategies such as vision screening programmes need to be implemented on a large scale to detect individuals suffering from refractive error blindness. Strategies to train sufficient numbers of personnel to perform reasonable quality refraction have to be developed. Long-term success in reducing refractive error blindness worldwide will require attention to these issues within the context of comprehensive approaches to reduce all causes of avoidable blindness by adopting different effective strategies.

There are two types of Strategies that could be looked in:
  1. Current Strategies
  2. Innovative Strategies
The current strategies provide the description of the present strategies adopted to prevent blindness due to refractive error problems.

Collaborating Partner



We are very much charmed to team up with other Eye Care websites and Resource Centres to reach out more people and develop useful resources. This month we are featuring “Eye care source” as our collaborating partner.

EyeCareSource.com is owned by Invision Management Group, LLC. The two founding members are Anthony Hill and Sengmany Ratsavong. They are providing quality resources on eye care to meet visitor’s needs.

Eye Care Source provides resources and information about Vision correction, Eye Care, Eye health, refractive surgery, Contact Lenses, Eye conditions and diseases, Eyeglasses and much more for optometrists, visitors, or anyone to research through and find information easily. It strives to provide easily searchable information about everything related to the eyes, vision, eye diseases, optometry schools, eye health and everything else in between.

Talk to Us

You can also refer your friends to register with the innovative resources. Send in your friend's e-mail id to us at eyesite@aravind.org with the subject line Register my friend's id!

SubscribeSitenews

Once you are a registered member you will receive the latest updates of the site through the monthly e-newsletter SiteNews.

The main aim being to make people know about the resources available on the website, keep you updated about the development of Vision 2020 e-resource and to receive suggestions about what you would like to find on the site.

UnsubscribeSitenews


Address:
Vision 2020 e-resource team,
Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology,
1, Annanagar, Madurai - 625 020,
Tamil Nadu, India,
E-mail:eyesite@aravind.org
Phone: 91-452-2537580



Contribute

We welcome you to submit your own resources or recommending to us resources which can be added to this to make this website successful. This could be articles or books or slide sets or videos or CDs or posters just about anything. All the resources will be submitted to a Quality Check process and then only it will be added as a resource in our site. Please send the resource as an attachment with the abstract and guideline.

Please click on the following link to submit your resources:

Submit Eye Care Resource

We are very much delighted to have partnership with other Resource Centres and Eye care websites. Hence we welcome you to become a partner of this website by submitting your website address. To submit please click on the following link:

Submit Weblink

We welcome you to post any eye care Training program, International Conferences and meetings, Educational symposia and related programs to the following address to display them in our Site Calendar. To submit an event, please click on the submit button including title of the event, dates, contact address, phone, fax e-mail and website address if exist for further information. We will review all the submissions and send notification of approval to the e-mail address provided.

Submit Eyecare Event




Past Issues