Untitled

Abstract

The cost efficacy of village level eye services needs to be evaluated and the awareness of these services increased.

Surgery Versus Epilation for the Treatment of Minor Trichiasis in Ethiopia: A Randomised Controlled Noninferiority Trial

“…Several studies have shown financial constraints, transport difficulties, and lack of time to be barriers to attending for surgery [7],[12]–[14]. Thirdly, in many regions many patients (often the majority) refuse the offer of surgery, even when major barriers are addressed by the provision of free surgery at community level [7],[13]–[15]. It is likely that in the next 5 y at least, the overwhelming majority of people with TT will not receive surgical treatment, irrespective of whether the TT is minor or major.…”

Identifying Patient Perceived Barriers to Trichiasis Surgery in Kongwa District, Tanzania

“…Previous studies in Kongwa among non-acceptors in the mid-1990s identified barriers to uptake as transportation to surgical sites, cost of surgery, arranging for the care of family and/or farm work while the patient is indisposed, and having someone to accompany the patient to the surgery site [9, 11], responses that we found continue to be important. At that time, the only surgical services were provided by local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the local hospital and there were no community-based surgical camps.…”

“…Based on previous research [7, 9–14], we developed a questionnaire on perceived barriers to accessing health care and surgical services. The questionnaire was translated from English to Swahili and then back-translated from Swahili to English for comprehension, then pilot-tested in Kongwa in non-study villages and refined before administration in study villages.…”

“…Despite the benefits, uptake of TT surgery remains low in published reports [5–8]. Some work to elucidate barriers has been done [7, 9–14] but understanding differences between persons in the same communities who did and did not have surgery would clarify barriers and provide data to improve access to surgical programs.…”

Blinding Trachoma: A Disease of Poverty

“…Barriers to uptake include distance to travel to surgery, perceived cost of the operation, child care duties, and lack of awareness about the treatment [14]. In Tanzania, less than a fifth of women with trichiasis opted for surgery, even when it was offered for free [18]. …”