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Blindness affects approximately 6 million people in Africa with cataract accounting for about half of this number. Cataract is defined as an opacification or loss of transparency of crystalline lens of the eye leading to blindness. Except for the most developed countries, cataract remains the leading cause of blindness in all regions of the world. Therefore, planning for its treatment is a priority of the VISION 2020 initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020 (1). Associated with ageing, cataract is also significant as a cause of low vision. Age-related cataract is responsible for 48% of the world blindness. The African region of the World Health Organization (WHO) accounts for 18% of total world blindness, half of which is caused by cataract alone. At three-quarters of cases of blindness are preventable or treatable, and this proportion is thought to be even higher in low-income countries. There is an estimated 3.1 million blind from cataract in sub- Saharan Africa (2).
In Burundi like many other sub-Saharan countries, age-related cataract remains the single major cause of blindness. In theory, all cataracts causing visual impairment should be cured by surgery, the only intervention for cataract. This is a compelling reason for increasing the number of cataract operations performed in Africa. Therefore, it goes without saying that evaluating the cataract surgical coverage and outcomes in Burundi is crucial.
The objective of the study is to assess the effect of cataract surgical services in Ngozi province, Burundi, in particular to assess the coverage of cataract surgery, the long term surgical outcomes. This information, the first of its kind for Burundi, will help with planning and monitoring cataract surgical services there. The study was carried out in Burundi, the latter located in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania. The country joined the East African Community few years ago. The total land area is 27,834 km 2 and the population is estimated at 8,173,000 with a mean population density of 294 people per square kilometer, the second highest density in sub-Saharan Africa. The country is divided in 17 provinces and 117 communes. Ngozi and Kayanza provinces are the two most densely populated provinces of Burundi. They are situated North West of Burundi with Ngozi and Kayanza as the capital cities. The population is estimated at more than a million people. |
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