Prevalence of visual impairment and blindness in a Nairobi urban population

No Abstract. East African Medical Journal Vol. 83(4) 2006: 69-7

Prevalence of trachoma in six districts of Kenya

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of active trachoma (TF) in children aged one to nine years and potentially blinding trachoma (TT) in adults aged 15 years and older in six known trachomaendemic districts in Kenya. Design: Community based survey. Setting: Six known trachoma endemic districts in Kenya (Samburu, Narok, West Pokot, Kajiado Baringo and Meru North).Subjects: A total of 6,982 children aged one to nine years and 8,045 adults aged 15 years and older were randomly selected in a two stage random cluster sampling method: Twenty sub-locations (clusters) per district and three villages per sub-location were randomly selected. Eligible children and adults were enumerated and examined for signs of trachoma. Results: Blinding trachoma was found to be a public health problem in all the surveyed districts. Active trachoma was a district wide public health problem in four districts (Samburu, Narok, West Pokot and Kajiado) and only in some of the sub-locations of the other two (Baringo and Meru North).Conclusions: There is need for district trachoma control programmes preferably using the WHO recommended SAFE strategy in all the surveyed districts. Extrapolation of these survey results to the entire country could not be justified. There is need to survey the remaining 12 suspected endemic districts in Kenya.East African Medical Journal Vol. 83(4) 2006: 63-6

Barriers to utilisation of eye care services in Kibera slums of Nairobi

Objectives: To identify the main barriers to utilisation of eye care services among the slum population of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya.Design: Community based survey. Setting: Kibera slums, Nairobi City, Kenya.Subjects: Randomly selected 1,438 Kibera slum dwellers aged over two years.Results: Majority of subjects (83.3%) do not utilise the nearby well-established eye clinics. Twenty one percent of those with poor vision do not seek treatment at all. The main barriers to seeking eye care services were lack of money, ignorance and the problem not causing much discomfort to warrant medical attention. There was significant, association between the level of education and health seeking behaviour (P = 0.008).Conclusion: Majority of Kibera slum dwellers have no access to eye care.Recommendation: There is need to establish a comprehensive primary eye care project to provide low cost but quality services affordable to Kibera slum dwellers. East African Medical Journal Vol 82(10) 2005: 507-50