Biobanks and human genomics applications are

Biobanks and human genomics applications are key for understanding health, disease and heredity in Africa and globally. Growing interest in these technologies calls for strengthening relevant legal, ethical and policy systems to address knowledge disparities and ensure protection of society, while supporting advancement of science. In Zimbabwe there is limited understanding of ethical, legal, and societal issues (ELSI) for biobanking and genomics. The Genomics Inheritance Law Ethics and Society (GILES) initiative was established in 2015 to explore the current status and gaps in the ethical and legal frameworks, knowledge among various stakeholders, and to establish capacity for addressing ELSI of biobanking and genomics as applied in biomedical and population research, and healthcare. The project was conducted over a countrywide geographical region and established one of the most comprehensive studies for ELSI of human biobanking and genomics in Africa. This paper outlines the strategy undertaken during the implementation of the GILES initiative and discusses the importance of such an initiative for characterisation of ELSI of human biobanking and genomics in Zimbabwe and Africa.

Childhood visual impairment is a major public health concern. The global financial burden of childhood-onset blindness is greater than that of adult-onset blindness due to the longer span of living. The importance of good vision for education and socialisation from an early age has prompted the adoption of vision screening in schools by many national eye care programmes in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the aim and purpose of this study were to determine the prevalence of visual impairment and the pattern of eye conditions affecting school children screened during the course of the "Portable Eye Examination Kit (PEEK) project." The study was a retrospective review that utilized data that was collated and analysed from the PEEK project dashboard from June 2019 to December 2020 by well-trained eye health care providers. The sample size was 4591 school-going children aged between 5 to 20 years of age recruited from the Harare and Bulawayo schools. Results showed that 58% did not have any eye problems while 24% had a red watery and itchy eye, 10% had a red eye, 2% had lid and globe issues and 2% had strabismus. The visual acuity results showed that the majority of participants, 2/3, had a good vision as they recorded a Snellen acuity test score of 6/9 or better. In addition, 1/5 had mild visual impairment, and about 2% of the participants were legally blind. 15% of the participants recruited in this study had moderate to severe visual impairment.

Approximately 19 million children worldwide present with visual impairments resulting from eye diseases and physical causes and, 1.4 million are estimated to be totally blind. Visual impairment among children continues to be a growing public health concern globally with low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) being disproportionately affected. In Zimbabwe, prevalence of blindness, frequency and types of eye conditions children present with are not known. The purpose of this study was to determine the patterns of eye disease among children attending the two tertiary facilities in Zimbabwe (Sekuru Kaguvi, Harare and Richard Morris, Bulawayo) and identifying the major eye conditions that children who attend the Harare and Bulawayo paediatric hospitals present with. A retrospective study design was conducted where hospital records containing patient data about age, gender, visual acuity and clinical diagnosis was retrieved and reviewed. The study had a sample size of 10066 children aged 15 years and below analysed between January 2018 and September 2020. Descriptive statistics were run using Stata statistical software and SPSS version 23. The study was approved by the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe (MRCZ). Study results showed that the most frequent eye conditions are allergic conjunctivitis, eye injuries, lid pathology and refractive error while the least prevalent eye conditions included retinoblastoma, anterior segment disease and uveitis. The most affected age group was children between 0 to 5 years and 6