Ocular health promotional activities were absent in other provinces. This may be a major contributing factor to poor ocular health promotion in South Africa and hence, the high prevalence of blindness and visual impairment. Therefore, it is recommended that an integrated ocular health promotional model (directorate and policies) be developed and be part of the South African primary health-care system.

Welding is associated with several ocular and systemic hazards especially where adequate protective measures are not taken.  The purpose of this project was to study the eye protection practices and symptoms among welders in the Capricorn District of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Questionnaires designed to investigate eye protection practices and symptoms experienced were completed byone hundred and fifty (150) welders. The types of welding done were shielded metal arc (84%), oxyacetylene gas (4%) and silver brazing (12%). The number of years spent in the welding industry ranged from one to 10 years with a mean of 5 ± 3.1 years and the number of hours of welding per day ranged from one to 10 hours with a mean of 6 ± 2.1 hours. A large percentage of the welders (89%) reported wearing protective devices when welding and the most common protective devices used by the welders were: helmets (57%), goggles(22%), and face shields (15%). Six percent used inefficient protective devices such as sunglasses.  Sixty one percent reported occasional exposure to welding flashes when not wearing any eye protection. Welding-related eye symptoms reported included foreign body sensation (18%), persistent after-images (31%), and watery eyes (50%).  Al-though the majority of the welders wore protective devices while welding, a few did not always use such devices while others used sunglasses for protection.  Moreover, many of the welders were occasionally, and only a few were always, exposed to welding flashes when protective devices were not used. Therefore, we concluded that eye protectionpractices amongst the welders appeared to be inadequate to avoid hazards associated with welding.  It is recommended that an eye protection educational campaign for welders should form part of the SouthAfrican Government’s workplace safety program.

Streptozotocin is widely used in medical research for treating certain cancers of the Islets of Langerhans and to produce an animal model for type 1 diabetes. A study has revealed that when compared to the control group of rats, those injected with STZ exhibited reduced plasma insulin and elevated blood glucose (p < 0.05 in all cases). The study also found that diabetic rats weighed significantly less than control animals (p < 0.05). In relation to ocular tissues, lacrimal glands from diabetic rats were also found to weigh significantly less  (p < 0.05) than those from the control group. However, no significant changes in the weights of lens, cornea, sclera and retina were observed between diabeticand control animals. Several other studies found that STZ-induced diabetes can be treated by plant extracts which control the blood sugar level as well as improving the lipid profile and ocular complications such as retinopathy. Experiments are usuallyperformed on male or female rats of a specific body weight, usually between 250 and 300 g. Diabetes is induced in rats by intraperitonial injections of streptozotocin (60 mg/ kg) in citrate buffer, pH 6.3.Animals that exhibit glucosuria after 24 hours, test-ed by urine test strips are considered diabetic. Plant extracts (6 mg/100g body weight) are orally administered into the stomach of STZ-diabetic rats every third day at a certain consistent time by means of bulbed steel needle for at least a four week period. This is done to determine the efficacy and potency of the plant extracts on diabetes. Histological and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques are used to study the changes in the ocular tissues. The dissected ocular tissues should be dehydrated in graded ethyl alcohol series and embedded in Araldite CY212. Ultra thin sections should be contrasted with uranyl acetate and lead citrate for examination by TEM. Streptozotocin induces diabetes in laboratory animal models for scientific studies and breakthroughs in medicine. The use of STZ and plant extracts may prove to be beneficial in the eye health care profession if considered for the studies of hypoglycemic agents that have the potency to prevent the advancement of diabetic retinopathy in diabetic patients.

Increased blood pressure (BP) and raised intraocular pressure (IOP) are probably both common oc-currences among the South African population. If left untreated both conditions have detrimentalcomplications. Previous cross-sectional studies suggested BP was positively related to IOP. This study therefore sets out to determine in a young South African adult population the correlation between systemic BP and IOP.  Systemic BP was measured using an electronic sphygmomanometer and IOP using a Goldman applanation tonometer. For all subjects, two averages were obtained fromthree measurements each of BP and IOP. Other clinical procedures such as uncompensated visual acuity (VA), pinhole and direct ophthalmoscopy were done to exclude underlying factors possiblyaffecting either BP or IOP before the commencement of the investigation. Two hundred (N = 200)subjects were included in the study and their ages ranged from 18 to 30 years with a mean of 21 ± 3.9 years. The correlation coefficients between average IOP and average systolic or diastolic BP respectively were 0.67 and 0.55. These weak positivecorrelations suggested that with an increase in BP there is a corresponding increase in IOP. Also, similar correlation between IOP and BP was found toexist amongst both males and females with systolic BP having a greater effect. This study validates theimportance of evaluating either systemic BP or IOP amongst all patients seen by primary eye-care practitioners, and that such evaluations should form part of daily routine patient examination.

The ocular manifestations of severe malaria in patients with cerebral malaria (CM) include retinal whitening, vessel discolouration, retinal haemorrhages and papilloedema. A large prospective study of Malawian children with CM found that the severity of retinal signs, including the number of retinal haemorrhages, was related to the outcome and length of coma in survivors of malaria. In a smaller number of Kenyan children with cerebral malaria, retinal haemorrhages were associated with deep coma and severe anaemia. A study on the effect of malarial retinopathy on vision found no detectable effect on visual acuity (VA) but where malaria is aggravated by failure to receive treatment this may possibly affect VA. The failure to receive treatment may be directly linked to the socio-economic status (SES) of those affected and this may occur in the KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces of South Africa where malaria is endemic. This suggests the need for effective health education and health promotion amongst those affected by malaria especially in severely affected provinces of South Africa. Also, in view of the direct ocular consequences of severe malaria, optometrists should engage communities in health education and health promotion. This is particularly relevant because in some communities, a large majority of those suffering from malarial infections do not visit formal health facilities for treatment. In so doing, optometrists in South Africa will be contributing positively to the Millennium Development Goals which seek, amongst others, to reduce unwarranted sources of morbidity worldwide. (S Afr Optom 2011 70(3) [129][130][131][132][133][134][135]