Kovin Shunmugam Naidoo

University of KwaZulu-Natal | ukzn · Department of Optometry

This study explored the potential of telemedicine integration into the eye health ecosystem with an aim of scaling effective refractive error coverage in Kenya. This exploratory study was conducted telephonically and through online interviews with key opinion leaders, ophthalmologists, optometrists, ophthalmic clinical officers, optical technicians...

BACKGROUND: Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is a readily treatable cause of visual impairment (VI). This study provides updated estimates of global and regional vision loss due to URE, presenting temporal change for VISION 2020 METHODS: Data from population-based eye disease surveys from 1980-2018 were collected. Hierarchical models estimated pr...

Background We aimed to update estimates of global vision loss due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of population-based surveys of eye diseases from January, 1980, to October, 2018. We fitted hierarchical models to estimate the prevalence of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI;...

Objectives To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by diabetic retinopathy and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals. Methods Data from population-based studies on eye diseases between 1980 to 2018 were compiled. Meta-regression models were performed to estim...

Introduction Even though the burden of uncorrected refractive error could potentially be addressed through innovative and cost-effective approaches, integration of the services into the National Health Services (NHS) is desirable. However, minimal information exists on the current situation warranting the need for evidence about the integration of...

Background In developing countries such as Kenya, minimal attention has been directed towards population based studies on uncorrected refractive error (URE). However, the absence of population based studies, warrants utilization of other avenues to showcase to the stakeholders in eye health the worth of addressing URE. Hence this study estimated th...

Uncorrected refractive error has predominantly been delivered through commercial entrepreneurship in Kenya. However, to achieve the 2030 IN SIGHT, integration of other forms of entrepreneurship such as the social entrepreneurship is desirable to supplement the efforts of the dominant commercial entrepreneurship. Therefore, this study intended to un...

Purpose Effective refractive error (RE) coverage in a resource-constrained country such as Kenya could possibly be achievable if the current dominant commercial entrepreneurship is supplemented with alternative avenues such as social entrepreneurship. This study aims to explore the perceived impact of social enterprises (SEs) in scaling effective R...

Background: Understanding the relationship between biometric and structural changes in childhood myopia is necessary to effectively manage myopia progression.Aim: To determine the relationship between ocular biometry, fovea and sub-fovea choroidal thickness in school-aged children with myopia of Nigerian descent.Setting: Abuja, Nigeria.Methods: Thi...

Background Developing countries such as Kenya still experience challenges around human resource to deliver refractive error services. However, given the burden of uncorrected refractive error, adoption of innovative and cost effective approaches is desirable. Hence this study intended to develop a task shifting framework integrated with telemedicin...

Background: Vision impairment is a growing global burden issue, and appropriately trained optometrists are essential for its management. However, there is a shortage of optometrists worldwide, which hampers eye care planning. Few studies have addressed this shortage quantitatively.Aim: The study aimed to describe the distribution of the global opto...

Purpose: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of uncorrected refractive error in Kenya. Methods: This was a systematic review and meta-analysis of published papers extracted from PubMed and Google Scholar published between the years 2000-2022. A Boolean operator of “AND” and “OR” was used. A meta-analysis was carried o...

Purpose Knowledge, positive attitude and good preventive practices are keys to successful myopia control, but information on these is lacking in Africa. This study determined the KAP on myopia in Ghana. Methods This was a population-based cross-sectional survey conducted among adults (aged 18 years and older) living across 16 regions of Ghana betw...

Background Despite being easily corrected with eyeglasses, over two-thirds of the world’s child population presents with vision impairment (VI) due to uncorrected refractive errors. While systematic reviews have shown that VI can significantly impact children’s depression and anxiety, none have reviewed the existing literature on the association be...

Background Ghana and Nigeria are the two countries in Africa that currently run the Doctor of Optometry (OD) program in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Optometrists in these countries are licensed to provide glaucoma care. Despite the clinically relevant practice guidelines for glaucoma, there is no data on the practice patterns for glaucoma eye care in...

Global investments in pandemic preparedness and COVID-19: development assistance and domestic spending on health between 1990 and 2026 Global Burden of Disease 2021 Health Financing Collaborator Network † Show footnotesOpen AccessPublished:January 24, 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00007-4 Summary Background The COVID-19 pandemic h...

Background In 2021, WHO Member States endorsed a global target of a 40-percentage-point increase in effective refractive error coverage (eREC; with a 6/12 visual acuity threshold) by 2030. This study models global and regional estimates of eREC as a baseline for the WHO initiative. Methods The Vision Loss Expert Group analysed data from 565 448 pa...

Background Eye conditions in children can have negative consequences on visual functioning and quality of life. There is a lack of data on the magnitude of children with eye conditions who need services for effective planning of school eye health programmes. To address this, the School Eye Health Rapid Assessment (SEHRA) tool is being developed to...

Advocacy is instrumental to achieving significant policy change for vision. Global advocacy efforts over the past decades enabled recognition of vision as a major public health, human rights, and development issue. The United Nations General Assembly adopted its first-ever Resolution on vision: “Vision for Everyone—Accelerating Action to Achieve th...

Background: Prevalence of myopia is increasing globally, hence it poses a significant public health risk due to the association of high myopia with debilitating eye disorders. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of myopia in school children. Setting: The study was conducted in primary and secondary schools in Garki district...

The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the World Health Organization - International Telecommunication Union MyopiaEd programme - a digital message programme targeting education on myopia and its prevention. The development of the MyopiaEd programme included 4 key steps: (1) Conceptualization and consultation with experts in the f...

Purpose There remains a lack of information on the perception and adoption of myopia control strategies among African eye care practitioners (ECPs). This study provides an African perspective to similar previous studies conducted in other parts of the world. Methods A self-administered survey in English and French was distributed to ECPs across Af...

Objectives To systematically review all current studies on diabetes risk assessment tools used in SSA to diagnose diabetes in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Methods Tools were identified through a systematic search of PubMed, Ovid, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library for articles published from January 2010 to January 2020. The search...

BACKGROUND: The growing global burden of vision impairment makes it imperative that there are appropriately trained human resources. Optometrists play a critical role in alleviating this burden, but the low number of optometrists available or the numbers in different countries has always been a challenge for eye care planning. Despite this, there h...

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) are important issues in the district health system (DHS) of South Africa (SA). Guidelines for the management of DR in SA were developed more than a decade ago but not effectively implemented. Aim: The aim of this study was to develop a suitable model for DR that could be effectively...

Background: Optometrists with different levels of optometric education in India provide eye care services under various capacities to the public. Aim: The study evaluated the status of optometrists in terms of their knowledge, skills and frequency of skill utilisation in public and private sectors. Setting: A quantitative study design was adopted...

In South Africa, primary eye care is largely challenged in its organisational structure, availability of human and other resources, and clinical competency. These do meet the standard required by the National Department of Health. This study seeks to assess the levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices on eye health amongst Human Resources for...

The World Council of Optometry (WCO) defines optometry as a healthcare profession that is autonomous, educated, and regulated (licensed/registered). Optometrists are the primary healthcare practitioners of the eye and visual system, who provide comprehensive eye and vision care that includes refraction and spectacle dispensing, detection/diagnosis...

Background: The development of human resources for eye health (HReH), aimed at achieving a 25% reduction in visual impairment by the year 2020, was one of the VISION 2020 objectives. Aim: To assess HReH in the public sector of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), and its effect on the accessibility of eye care in the province. Setting: All public eye facilities...

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening programmes have been developed and implemented in different countries based on availability of resources. Most protocols developed for DR have been solely dedicated to DR screening without involving systemic screening. Aim: To implement and evaluate a DR screening model utilising a team of healthcare...

Background: Low vision and blindness have significant implications, resulting in a generally reduced quality of life amongst the sufferers. Aim: To determine the prevalence and causes of low vision and blindness amongst learners at the Akropong School for the Blind. Setting: The study was conducted in Akropong School for the Blind, Ghana. Methods:...

Summary Background Many causes of vision impairment can be prevented or treated. With an ageing global population, the demands for eye health services are increasing. We estimated the prevalence and relative contribution of avoidable causes of blindness and vision impairment globally from 1990 to 2020. We aimed to compare the results with the World...

Summary Background To contribute to the WHO initiative, VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, an assessment of global vision impairment in 2020 and temporal change is needed. We aimed to extensively update estimates of global vision loss burden, presenting estimates for 2020, temporal change over three decades between 1990–2020, and forecasts for 2050....

Background: There are many gaps in the management of diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic eye disease in the district health system (DHS) of South Africa (SA). National guidelines recommend annual eye examinations for patients with DM.Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe the self-reported skill levels of healthcare practitioners (HCPs) to...

The burden of vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive error (needing spectacles) in Mozambique is known to be significant. To improve the planning and provision of eye health services, a better understanding of how vision is valued by patients is needed. The willingness to pay (WTP) for improved vision through correcting refractive error wa...

Background Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is a form of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhoea that has the potential to drastically reduce child mortality; yet, according to UNICEF estimates, less than half of children younger than 5 years with diarrhoea in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) received ORS in 2016. A variety of rec...

Objective To estimate the effect of providing free spectacles on uncorrected visual acuity (VA) among urban migrant Chinese school children. Design Exploratory analysis from a parallel cluster-randomised clinical trial. Methods After baseline survey and VA screening, eligible children were randomised by school to receive one of the two interventi...

Oral rehydration solution (ORS) is a form of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for diarrhoea that has the potential to drastically reduce child mortality; yet, according to UNICEF estimates, less than half of children younger than 5 years with diarrhoea in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) received ORS in 2016. A variety of recommended ho...

Purpose To assess the influence of distance and near visual impairment on self-reported near visual functioning (VF) among adults in a multi-country study. Design Population-based cross-sectional study. Participants Participants aged ≥35 years were randomly selected with cluster sampling at seven sites: rural sites in Nepal (Kaski) and India (Mad...

Background To assess the psychometric properties of the QIRC questionnaire and use it as an outcome measure in spectacle wearers attending an eye clinic in Malawi. Methods Participants who had uncorrected distance visual acuity of below 6/18 and improved to 6/9 or better with spectacles on both eyes were included in the study. The participants self...

Background: Visual impairment among school children is relatively common and research provides evidence for integration of comprehensive eye care into school health programmes. Aim: To determine the prevalence and determinants of visual impairment in school-aged children in Southern Nigeria. Setting: School aged children from 10 public and privat...

Background: Visual impairment among school children is relatively common and research provides evidence for integration of comprehensive eye care into school health programmes. Aim: To determine the prevalence and determinants of visual impairment in school-aged children in Southern Nigeria. Setting: School aged children from 10 public and private-...

Background: Without appropriate interventions, simple or low myopia can progressively get worse and lead to high myopia. Patients with high myopia are at a greater risk of developing retinal detachment, myopic macular degeneration, glaucoma and eventual blindness in some cases, and hence the reason for the global call for myopia control. Consequent...

Background This study aimed to assess the prevalence and causes of vision loss in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2015, compared with prior years, and to estimate expected values for 2020. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the prevalence of blindness (presenting distance visual acuity <3/60 in the better eye), moderate and severe...

Background Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is a major cause of vision impairment among children that impacts negatively on their lives including distresses. We aim to understand the disability-related distress among vision-impaired children due to URE in rural and semi-rural South Africa using qualitative techniques. Methods Structured focus gr...

Background: The optometry training programme started in Nepal in 1997 with an intake of six students per year. The second optometry school was established in 2018 with an intake of 40 students per year. Aim: To establish a profile for Nepalese optometrists and understand their perspectives regarding the entrance examination, curriculum, infrastruc...

This is a follow-up study to investigate the outcome of a training program among teachers and nurses that took place in certain counties in Kenya in the year 2012. The program was undertakenby Seeing is Believing (SIB) in conjunction with the Brien Holden Vision Institute, the ministries of health and education for the development and implementatio...

Background: Uncorrected refractive error could negatively affect learning and academic performance, there is still inadequate information for planning school health. Aim: To determine the proportion of students with vision impairment because of uncorrected refractive error, and prevalent types among learners aged 10–18 years. Setting: The study s...

Background To determine the prevalence and causes of blindness and vision impairment (VI) in East Asia in 2015 and to forecast the trend to 2020. Methods Through a systematic literature review and meta-analysis, we estimated prevalence of blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60 in the better eye), moderate-to-severe vision impairment (MSVI; 3/60...

Significance: Uncorrected refractive error is the leading cause of visual impairment; therefore, reducing its prevalence is important worldwide. For two decades, there has not been a comprehensive assessment of refractive error in Latin America. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the current prevalence of refractive error, presb...

Objective To estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness and vision impairment for distance and near in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) in 2015 and to forecast trends to 2020. Methods A meta-analysis from a global systematic review of 283 cross-sectional, population-representative studies from published and unpublished sources from 1980 t...

Herbal plants have played an important role traditional medicine therapy of multiple human illnesses since the existence of man in many parts of the globe .The most common eye diseases include conjunctivitis, cataract, glaucoma, eye allergies, eye inflammation. The problem of adverse drug effects of modern drugs, has led to the increased use nowada...

Over 2 billion people worldwide are estimated to have myopia, defined as ≤ –0.5 dioptres (D). Of these, around 10% have high myopia, defined as ≤ –5 D.1,2 People with high myopia are at increased risk of potentially blinding eye conditions such as macular degeneration, retinal detachment, open-angle glaucoma and cataract. Myopia is already a major...

This appendix formed part of the original submission and has been peer reviewed. Supplement to: GBD 2017 SDG Collaborators. Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. L...

BACKGROUND: The global burden of vision impairment has been acknowledged by the World Health Organisation as a public health challenge. In order to scale up the production of eye health personnel in developing countries, a tiered model of optometry training was explored in Mozambique. OBJECTIVES: The Mozambique case study was evaluated to assess th...

The evidence-basis based on existing myopia control trials along with the supporting academic literature were reviewed; this informed recommendations on the outcomes suggested from clinical trials aimed at slowing myopia progression to show the effectiveness of treatments and the impact on patients. These outcomes were classified as primary (refrac...

With the growing prevalence of myopia, already at epidemic levels in some countries, there is an urgent need for new management approaches. However, with the increasing number of research publications on the topic of myopia control, there is also a clear necessity for agreement and guidance on key issues, including on how myopia should be defined a...

Purpose: We provide a standardized set of terminology, definitions, and thresholds of myopia and its main ocular complications. Methods: Critical review of current terminology and choice of myopia thresholds was done to ensure that the proposed standards are appropriate for clinical research purposes, relevant to the underlying biology of myopia...