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Everyday braille

ROYAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND (RNIB)
2000

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Aimed at family and friends of braille users, it explains how even a little braille can make a difference to the life of a blind or partially sighted person. Available in print and in braille.

Information on learning braille

ROYAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND (RNIB)
2000

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This is a comprehensive guide to resources for teaching braille, including teaching packs, writing machines and writing materials. It includes contact details of organisations in the UK and USA. It is also available on audio-cassette, diskette and in braille

Helping children who are blind : family and community support for children with vision problems|Ayudar a los niños ciegos : apoyo familiar y comunitario para niños con problemas de la vista

NIEMANN, Sandy
JACOB, Namita
2000

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Children develop faster in the first five years of life than any other time, and children who are blind need extra help so they can learn how to use their other senses to explore, learn and interact with the world. The simple activities in this book can help families, health workers, and individuals to support children with vision impairment to develop their capabilities. Topics include: assessing how much a child can see; preventing blindness; helping a child move around safely; activities of daily living; preparing for childcare or school; and supporting the parents of blind children. The book is written in an easy-to-read style with illustrations and examples from southern countries

Vitamin A deficiency : health, survival and vision

SOMMER, A
WEST, K P
1996

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"It now seems clear that improving the vitamin A status of deficient children would not only prevent 5 million to 10 million cases of xerophthalmia and half a million children from going blind each year, but save a million or more lives annually as well. This book therefore reframes the issue of vitamin A deficiency in its broader context of child health and survival. A great deal attention is paid to the systemic complications of vitamin A deficiency and the data from which they are derived. The recent explosion in knowledge about the basic biochemistry of vitamin A and its impact on the immune system has begun to explain the clinical and public health observations. Drs. James Olson and Catharine Ross have graciously assumed responsibility for these two chapters. This book is useful to pediatricians, nutritionists, ophthalmologists, scientists and public health practitioners and officials engaged in designing and implementing programs aimed at curbing vitamin A deficiency and its consequences and reducing the terrible and needless loss of sight and life"

Global data on blindness

Thylefors, B et al
1995

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Globally, it is estimated that there are 38 million persons who are blind. Moreover, a further 110 million people have low vision and are at great risk of becoming blind. The main causes of blindness and low vision are cataract, trachoma, glaucoma, onchocerciasis, and xerophthalmia; however, insufficient data on blindness from causes such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration preclude specific estimations of their global prevalence. The age- specific prevalences of the major causes of blindness that are related to age indicate that the trend will be for an increase in such blindness over the decades to come, unless energetic efforts are made to tackle these problems. More data collected through standardized methodologies, using internationally accepted (ICD-10) definitions, are needed. Data on the incidence of blindness due to common causes would be useful for calculating future trends more precisely.

Strategic issues in preventing cataract blindness in developing countries

Ellwein, L B
Kupfer, C
1995

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Cataract blindness is a public health problem of major proportions in developing countries. Intracapsular cataract extraction with aphakic spectacles has been the standard surgical technique for restoring sight. Because of image magnification in the operated eye, however, the result in unilaterally blind patients is less than satisfactory. Fortunately, with the availability of low-cost intraocular lenses ( IOL) and ophthalmologists trained in extracapsular surgery, it is now practical to intervene successfully in the unilateral case. The need for increased attention on the quality of the visual outcome is only one of three important strategic issues in cataract blindness control. The existing high prevalence of cataract blindness in developing countries and an increasing cataract incidence due to an aging population require substantial increases in surgical volume. The third issue relates to cost. If significant increases in surgical volume and quality of outcomes are to be realised without an increased need for external funding, service delivery must be made more efficient. The expansion of IOL surgery for unilateral blindness is a favourable trend in ensuring financial sustainability of delivery systems; patients can be operated on while still economically productive and able to pay rather than waiting for bilateral blindness and a less favourable economic and social impact. It the quality, volume, and cost issues are to be successfully addressed, operational and structural changes to eye care delivery systems are necessary. These changes can be effected through training, technology introduction, management of facilities, social marketing, organizational partnerships, and evaluation. With improved understanding of the critical factors in successful models their widespread replication will be facilitated.

A visible form of charity

KALE, Rajendra
1994

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This article is in response to a BBC documentary and the author suggests that health camps, which is one way of searching India' s rural patients, perhaps have different motives. The author suggests that most are done for charity and good will but they are only temporary and have inadequate follow-up

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