The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness, or raab, is a relatively simple and lowcost survey methodology to provide data on the prevalence and causes of visual loss. The target for the commonwealth is to reduce the number of people affected by at least 20 million by 2019. This strategy would also enable us achieve our goal of eliminating avoidable blindness due to cataracts by the year 2020. World view rapid assessment of avoidable blindness and. There has been no evaluation of the current practice of pec among primary health care workers phcws in nepal.
Pdf rapid assessment of avoidable blindness in two northern. The purpose of a raab is to evaluate the magnitude and causes of blindness and severe visual impairment for the age group 50 plus years in the area. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab sightsavers. Jun 07, 2016 community ophthalmology initial viewed. In 2008, we launched palestines firstever rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab. Summary cataracts still continue to be a major cause of blindness globally and with the rapidly aging population, it is a challenge to tackle. We undertook a rapid assessment of avoidable blind. Avoidable blindness is a term used to describe eye conditions that. Community ophthalmology community ophthalmology use of appropriate strategies and methods to reduce the burden of eye diseases in a community. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness and needs assessment.
Prevalence of blindness and cataract surgical outcomes in. Innovative diagnostic tools for ophthalmology in lowincome. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a standardised survey. To estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness in persons above 50 years in kolar, south india, using the above methodology. Prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment. Households from 93 villages were selected using compact segment. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a survey methodology that aims to provide data on the prevalence and causes of visual loss box 1. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness methodology provides valid estimates in short time to assess magnitude and causes of blindness. Blindness products 23 blindness hardware 8 blindness software 8 braille products 10 clearance and ex demo equipment 0 low vision products 33 clearance and ex demo equipment 0 low vision cctv 8 low vision hand magnifiers 7 low vision hardware 22 low vision software 6. As part of this grant, orbis internationalethiopia oie has undertaken to conduct a rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab in the project area in the first year of the project.
A rapid assessment of avoidable blindness planning module is currently being developed based on the outcomes of this study. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid survey methodology developed at the international centre for eye health iceh. Who rapid assessment of avoidable blindness for health. How is rapid assessment of cataract surgical services now rapid assessment of avoidable blindness abbreviated. World sight day is a reminder diabetes has already become the biggest cause of blindness among. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness, or raab, is a relatively simple and. Racss rapid assessment of cataract surgical services now. Basic principles the practice of community ophthalmology involves 1. The country has an estimated backlog of over 150,000 people who are blind from this treatable condition. The aim of this article is to reflect on the achievements and challenges of raab, and to describe the future developments that are needed to ensure that it remains a relevant and widely used tool. Pdf assessment of avoidable blindness using the rapid. Sechn state enrolled community health nurse eligible to train as a community ophthalmic nurse srn state registered nurse eligible to train as a diploma ophthalmic nurse slab sierra leone association of the blind. Eye diseases like cataract, trachoma and diabetic retinopathy can lead to blindness when, in fact theyre either treatable or preventable. Pdf rapid assessment of avoidable blindness researchgate.
Findings from racss and raab are essential as baseline data for planning of intervention programmes to eliminate avoidable blindness, and to measure. Background rapid assessment of avoidable blindness provides valid estimates in a short period of time to assess the magnitude and causes of avoidable blindness. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab has been developed as a simple and rapid survey methodology that can provide. By harnessing the power of digital photography coupled with state of the art hardware, this highly praised app, tailored to the specific needs of people who are blind or visually impaired, makes access to print materials much faster and more efficient than ever. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid, populationbased survey methodology on blindness, visual impairment and eye care services among people aged 50 years and over. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid methodology to. Association of sex with the global burden of cataract. Oct 11, 2017 dominic haslam, director of policy and programme strategy at sightsavers says. Rationale and feasibility of a combined rapid assessment of avoidable blindness and hearing loss protocol. Working with iceh as part of the consortium, peek has also developed a new mobile and cloudbased platform for rapid assessment of avoidable blindness surveys. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid survey. Variation in cataract surgery needs in latin america.
Capacity building to conduct rapid assessments of avoidable. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid survey methodology developed at iceh, and used to complete over 300 surveys of visual impairment and blindness to date. The new platform includes several new features that deliver higher integrity data and the ability to track raabs live. Blindness surveys have been completed in 23 districts to date and. The knfb reader can recognize and read printed materials in a variety of languages. Question what is the association of sex with the global burden of cataract by year, age, and socioeconomic status findings in this international, comparative burdenofdisease study, differences in the global burden of cataract by sex persisted from 1990 through 2015, with women having higher rates of cataract than men. Peek acuity is a standalone app which provides a measure of visual acuity and a visual representation of the result. This can be a district, a state or province or an entire country. Bright t, mccormick i, phiri m, mulwafu w, burton m, polack s, mactaggart i,yip jly, swanepoel d and kuper h. Cambodia rapid assessment for avoidable blindness 2007.
We need to plan a comprehensive strategy addressing issues related to. To estimate the magnitude and causes of blindness in people aged. Whenever a new database container is generated to store data of a particular. Of course, tackling avoidable blindness cannot truly be achieved effectively without understanding the nature of the problem.
It is a population based survey of blindness and visual impairment and eye care services among people aged 50 years and over. Modified into rapid assessment of cataract surgical services racss 2005. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab international. The package contains windows software, supporting documentation and. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness for health service. The reason people live with blindness is that they cant access quality eye health care. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness and dr is a crosssectional communitybased survey developed as an efficient and quick way to describe blindness, vi, and dr at a district level populations. We have made significant progress in recent years in reducing the levels of avoidable blindness, but the new data in the vision atlas shows we need to redouble our efforts to prevent the predicted increase in blindness and visual impairment as the global. This is why research has been a major focus of our work for several years. The package contains windows software, supporting documentation and training materials. A total of 93 villages were selected through probability proportionate to size using the rapid assessment of avoidable blindness methodology.
The fred hollows foundation works on rapid assessment of avoidable blindness, a program that works with needful people and sidebyside with the local people to focus on sustainability of a crucial part of the body. Jul 02, 2019 the rapid assessment of avoidable blindness, or raab, is a relatively simple and lowcost survey methodology to provide data on the prevalence and causes of visual loss. Dominic haslam, director of policy and programme strategy at sightsavers says. The aim of this article is to reflect on the achievements and challenges of raab. Results of rapid assessment of avoidable blindness summary report. Ophthalmology services should be solely provided through tertiary health centers by ophthalmologists epidemic of preventable blindness and visual impairment many eye problems are within the purview of public health concerned first proposed by dr. The number of people needed for the survey is calculated using an automated programme within the raab software package. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab has been developed as a simple and rapid survey methodology that can provide data on the prevalence and causes of blindness.
Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid methodology to conduct a population based survey of visual impairment and eye care services among people aged 50 years and over. Racss stands for rapid assessment of cataract surgical services now rapid assessment of avoidable blindness. Question what is the association of sex with the global burden of cataract by year, age, and socioeconomic status findings in this international, comparative burden of disease study, differences in the global burden of cataract by sex persisted from 1990 through 2015, with women having higher rates of cataract than men. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a standardised method to conduct a population based survey on blindness and visual impairment in a defined population. World view rapid assessment of avoidable blindness in. Most recent papers in the journal ophthalmic epidemiology. Pdf on jan 1, 2007, hannah kuper and others published rapid assessment of avoidable blindness find, read and cite all the research you. This software package and manual are provided free of charge and may be copied. Prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment the fiftyninth world health assembly, having considered the report on prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment. Raab is a free software package for the entry and analysis of data from rapid assessment of avoidable blindness surveys. They are trying to end avoidable blindness in underprivileged communities. Raab software, which used a probability proportional to size approach to select. Households were selected by compact segment sampling.
In developing countries, 4 out of 5 people who are blind dont need to be. In the past decade, populationbased surveys rapid assessment of cataract surgical services racss and rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab were conducted according to standard methods in a number of latin american countries. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a survey system that estimates prevalence of avoidable blindness in a population over age 50. Methods and findings sixteen randomly selected districts where blindness surveys were undertaken 7 to 10 years earlier were. A 2014 rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab survey in madagascar found that cataracts were the cause of 64% of blindness and 86% of severe visual impairment. Studies in subsaharan africa have demonstrated that current pec provision is poor.
The rotarian action group for blindness prevention facilitating partnerships between rotary clubs and rotary districts with project needs and available resources to promote eye health and prevent blindness. The raab6 software package is for the entry and analysis of data from rapid assessment of avoidable blindness surveys raabs. Community eye health journal rapid assessment of avoidable. Avoidable blindness set to increase in future iapb vision atlas.
Rapid assessment and avoidable blindness raab in myanmar. Who global action plan for the prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment 201419. Rapid assessment of visual impairment in urban population of. This process can be used as a model for other districts in bangladesh.
Vision 2020 and the global action plan 202019 prioritise primary eye care pec as an important component of reducing avoidable blindness. Programme planners are often reluctant to plan surveys, as they are believed to be expensive, timeconsuming, and complicated. To estimate the prevalence of blindness and cataract surgical outcomes in persons 50 years or older above in takeo province, cambodia. World view rapid assessment of avoidable blindness and needs. The fiftyninth world health assembly, in resolution wha59. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid survey methodology. The raab is intended to provide the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment, its main causes, the output and quality of eye care services, barriers, cataract.
Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab the center. Prevention of avoidable blindness and visual impairment report by the secretariat 1. A rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab was conducted in manicaland province, zimbabwe from march to april 2016. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid, populationbased survey methodology on blindness, visual impairment and eye care services. This population based survey was organised by the ministry of health and child care, in collaboration with cbm, zimbabwe council for the blind and the community eye health institute, university of cape town. World sight day is a reminder diabetes has already become the biggest cause of blindness among the worlds working population, our ceo brian doolan said. St john of jerusalem eye hospital group this week in palestine. Apr 01, 2019 of course, tackling avoidable blindness cannot truly be achieved effectively without understanding the nature of the problem. The package contains software windows only, supporting documentation and training materials. An assessment of the extent of the problem of eye diseases and socio economic impact of blindness on the community. The aims of this study were to conduct a rapid assessment of avoidable blindness in satkhira district, to estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness in people aged 50 years. The module is focused at the district planning level and will complement existing tools such as whos eye care service assessment tool,14 which is used at the national level. The data gathered from these surveys are stored in a repository, which not only details the prevalence of eye diseases and their causes but also the quality of eye services, resources and barriers to. It is a population based survey of visual impairment and eye care services among people aged 50 years and over.
So far, raab has been successfully undertaken in kenya, 1 bangladesh, 2 the philippines, botswana, rwanda, mexico, and china personal communication. Modified to rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab with focus on vision 2020 district level planning. Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness methodology provides valid estimates. The rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab is a rapid survey. Peek solutions is a complete software and service package with support, data analysis, sms reminder functionality and other features, currently only available to peek partners. District rapid assessments developed in india required for decentralised eye care services based on who blindness survey form 2000. Thereafter, a more comprehensive, rapid assessment method namely rapid assessment of avoidable blindness raab was developed in order to assess the prevalence and causes of visual impairment and blindness in population aged 50 years and above. We anticipate that these changes will improve the relevance of the rapid assessment of avoidable blindness for the decades to come by increasing the quality of data collected and will support effective planning of programmes, at districtlevel, for the prevention of avoidable blindness. The rapid escalation of diabetes around the world means more people than ever before are at risk of avoidable blindness, the fred hollows foundation has warned.