Background Surgery for trichiasis is one of the pillars of the World Health Organization’s strategy for global elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. A high incidence of post-operative trichiasis or other poor surgical outcomes could jeopardize these efforts. In this review, we aimed to summarize the reported incidence of post-operative trichiasis and other poor outcomes of trichiasis surgery in Africa. Methods We conducted a systematic literature search using PubMed, Academic Search Premier, Africa-Wide Information, CINAHL and Health Source Nursing through EBSCOhost, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Reference lists of included studies were also reviewed to identify further potentially relevant publications. All observational and interventional studies that measured post-operative trichiasis in Africa as an outcome of trichiasis surgery were included. Results Thirty-five papers reporting on 22 studies (9 interventional,13 observational; total 13,737 participants) met the inclusion criteria. The reported incidence of post-operative trichiasis in the included studies ranged from 2% (at 6 weeks after bilamellar tarsal rotation) to 69% (at 3 weeks after anterior lamellar repositioning). The incidence varied by surgical procedure, study design, and length of follow-up. Conclusion Trichiasis surgical outcomes should be improved. National trachoma programmes could benefit from identifying and adopting strategies to improve the performance and quality of their surgical service.

ackground: The prevalence of uncorrected refractive error among school-age children is on the rise with detrimental effect on academic performance and socio-economic status of those affected. School vision screening programmes appear to be an effective way of identifying children with uncorrected refractive errors so early intervention can be made. Despite the increasing popularity of school vision screening programmes over the past few years, there is a lot of debate on its effectiveness in reducing the proportion of children with uncorrected refractive error in the long term, especially in settings where resources are limited. Some studies argue that school vision screening programmes are effective while other studies have reported otherwise. The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of school vision screening programmes in reducing uncorrected refractive error among children in low and middle income countries using evidence from published studies. Methods and findings: A comprehensive and systematic strategy was used to search various databases including PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) which contains the Cochrane Eyes and vision Trial Register, the Cochrane Library, Medline (1980-2018), CINAHL, Academic Search Premier, Web of Science, the WHO’s Library Information System, Africa-Wide and Scopus. The search was restricted to articles published in English. Randomized control trials, cross-sectional studies, case-control studies and cohort studies were included in this review. Participants included school children with refractive error. Full-text review of search results, data extraction and risk of bias assessment was done by two independent reviewers. The certainty of the evidence was assessed using the GRADE approach and data were pooled using the random-effect model. Thirty studies met the inclusion criteria. This review found moderate certainty evidence indicating that school vision screenings may be effective in reducing uncorrected refractive error among school children by 81% (95% CI: 77%; 84%), 24% (95% CI: 13%; 35%) and 20% (95% CI: 18%; 22%) at two, six, and more than six months respectively after its introduction. Results: Results of this review also suggest that school vision screening may be effective in achieving 54% (95% CI: 25%; 100%), 57% (95% CI: 46%; 70%), 37% (95% CI: 26%; 52%), and 32% (95% CI: 14%; 72%) spectacle-wear compliance among school children at less than three months, at three months, at six months and at more than six months respectively after its introduction (low to moderate certainty evidence). This review further found moderate to high certainty evidence indicating that school vision screening, together with provision of spectacles, may be relatively cost effective, safe and has a positive impact on the academic performance of school children. Conclusion: The findings of this review show that school vision screening, together with provision of spectacles, may be a safe and cost-effective way of reducing the proportion of children with uncorrected refractive error, with long-term positive impact on academic performance of children. Most of the studies included in this review were, however, conducted in Asia. Research to investigate the effectiveness of school vision screening programmes in other parts of the world like Africa where few studies have been conducted is highly recommended

BackgroundPoor outcomes of trichiasis surgery, including postoperative trichiasis, are common in many trachoma-endemic countries in Africa. To improve outcomes, WHO recommends regular follow-up and outcome assessment of surgical cases plus audit of trichiasis surgeons.AimsTo assess national approaches to trichiasis surgical follow-up, outcome assessment and audit, and identify national targets for good surgical outcome (defined as the percentage of patients undergoing surgery for trichiasis remaining free of post-operative trichiasis for a defined interval after surgery).MethodsA cross-sectional survey was carried out between May and July 2018, involving all 29 known-trachoma-endemic countries in Africa. An emailed questionnaire was used to collect information on national targets for surgical outcomes, policies, monitoring and strategies to address underperformance by surgeons.ResultsAll national programmes provided information; 2 of the 29 had not yet implemented trichiasis surgery as part of their trachoma elimination programme. Findings from 27 countries are therefore reported. Only four countries reported having a national policy for trichiasis surgery follow-up and outcome assessment and only two had a national policy for conducting audits of trichiasis surgeons. Only 9 of the 27 countries had a cut-off point at which poorly performing surgeons would be instructed to discontinue surgery until retraining or other interventions had been undertaken.DiscussionTo address the challenge of post-operative trichiasis and other poor outcomes, national trachoma programmes should create and implement policies and systems to follow up patients, assess surgical outcomes and monitor the performance of individual surgeons through post-surgical audits.

This article highlights the increasing prevalence of gastronomic tourism, which emphasizes tasting local cuisine and experiencing local culinary culture. In terms of language, culture, and cuisine, the significance of effective communication in facilitating this experience is emphasized. The article explains that translation applications and social media are playing an increasingly significant role in how travellers communicate with natives. Effective communication is regarded as essential for a successful gastronomic tourism experience, as it enables tourists to interact with local communities and develop a deeper appreciation for culture and cuisine. Additionally, the article highlights the significance of sustainable and responsible gastronomic tourism policies, which can promote locally sourced and diverse cuisines, responsible consumption, and support local food producers and suppliers. Gastronomy is an essential element of a region's cultural heritage, and it has a substantial impact on tourism, job creation, and economic development. Gastronomy plays a significant role in attracting travellers and enhancing the overall tourism experience of destinations.

Positivism research philosophy was adopted for the study. Descriptive and explanatory cross-sectional research designs were used. The target population consisted of all the 55 registered insurance companies in Kenya as at 28th February 2017 and a sample size of 208 participants drawn from lower, middle and top level. Primary data was collected using collected using semi-structured questionnaires containing both open and closed-ended questions while secondary data was obtained using a secondary data collection sheet. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and inferential analysis. Findings: There is a weak positive correlation between self-awareness and organization performance. Self-management, social awareness, and organization performance were moderately correlated while interpersonal relationship management was strongly correlated with organization performance. Emotional intelligence has a significant influence on organizational performance among insurance companies in Kenya. Specifically, selfawareness, self-management, social awareness, and interpersonal relationship management have a significant impact on organizational performance among insurance companies in Kenya. Research limitations/implications: Study was limited in scope since it focused on the Kenyan insurance firms and thus the findings might not be generalized to other sectors such as banking and agricultural sectors. The management of insurance companies should ensure that they cultivate, create and maintain good rapport with stakeholders, seek to understand each stakeholder requirements, observe healthy competition with competitors, encourage amicable conflict resolution where grievances arise and enhance effective communication within and outside the organization. Insurance companies should ensure that there are programs that are specially designed to offer training and enhancement of self-awareness to help the management staff and employees to be emotionally stable and make optimal decisions. Originality/value: The results of this research will add knowledge in the available literature on emotional intelligence and how it impacts on the performance of organizations by showing that emotional intelligence plays a significant role in personal career development and motivating people to act and control their actions and emotions.