The midterm assessment suggests that all countries must design the current programs to effectively address both current and emerging causes of blindness. Capacity building and proportionate distribution of human resources for adequate rural reach along with poverty alleviation could be the keys to achieve the universal eye health by 2019.

PurposeTo estimate the prevalence and causes of blindness and visual impairment, cataract surgical coverage (CSC), visual outcome of cataract surgery, and barriers to uptake cataract surgery in Timor-Leste.MethodIn a nationwide rapid assessment of avoidable blindness (RAAB), the latest population (1,066,409) and household data were used to create a sampling frame which consists of 2,227 population units (study clusters) from all 13 districts, with populations of 450–900 per unit. The sample size of 3,350 was calculated with the assumed prevalence of blindness at 4.5% among people aged ≥50 years with a 20% tolerable error, 95% CI, and a 90% response rate. The team was trained in the survey methodology, and inter-observer variation was measured. Door-to-door visits, led by an ophthalmologist, were made in preselected study clusters, and data were collected in line with the RAAB5 survey protocol. An Android smart phone installed with mRAAB software was used for data collection.ResultThe age–gender standardized prevalence of blindness, severe visual impairment, and visual impairment were 2.8%, (1.8–3.8), 1.7% (1.7–2.3), and 8.1% (6.6–9.6), respectively. Cataract was the leading cause of blindness (79.4%). Blindness was more prevalent in the older age group and in women. CSC was 41.5% in cataract blind eyes and 48.6% in cataract blind people. Good visual outcome in the cataract-operated eyes was 62% (presenting) and 75.2% (best corrected). Two important barriers to not using available cataract surgical services were accessibility (45.5%) and lack of attendants to accompany (24.8%).ConclusionThe prevalence of blindness and visual impairment in Timor-Leste remains high. CSC is unacceptably low; gender inequity in blindness and CSC exists. Lack of access is the prominent barrier to cataract surgery.

Quilombola communities are present in many Brazilian states living in precarious health conditions. This is due to geographic isolation, limitations to the access of the area in which they live in, and the lack of quality in the service when it is needed to be provided. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the quality of life of women from a quilombola community in northeastern Brazil. It is an observational, cross-sectional and descriptive study. 160 adult women were first interviewed through a form to collect a profile and then it was applied the WHOQOL Quality of Life questionnaire – bref. It was observed that the women were on average 40.7 years old (±17.25), married, self-declared black, who did not finish elementary school, housewife, had no income, with their own masonry house, with up to 6 rooms, supplied by a box of community treated water. Quality of Life had median scores in the domains: physical (3.18), psychological (3.4), social relationships (3.45) and environment (2.59). With this research, it was possible to characterize the quilombola community of Santa Luzia do Norte-AL regarding the difficulties of access to health and income generation, issues that affect their health condition. The problems described in this study can contribute to health actions being planned and carried out in order to improve socioeconomic and health conditions in this community, considering the social, political and environmental context, valuing their traditional knowledge and practices.

Scorpionic accidents are a major public health problem due to the high occurrence with potential seriousness. In this manner, the research aimed to analyze the occurrence of scorpionic accidents in a municipality in the northeastern of Brazil. An exploratory, descriptive study was made, with a quantitative approach, using secondary data which was gotten from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN), from 2008 to 2018. Data such as neighborhood, presence of street markets were also used, and the existence of sanitation and climatic data such as temperature and season. Geoprocessing was used to identify possible changes in the environment. In the analyzed period, 9,330 cases of scorpion accidents were recorded, with an average of 848 annual notifications. Scorpionic accidents occurred more frequently in women (5,686; 60.94%). Individuals aged 20 to 29 years (1.727; 18.51%) were more frequent to scorpion stings. Regarding the body parts where the stings were made, the highlights were on the foot (3.515; 37.67%) followed by the hand (2.818; 30.20%). No statistically significant relation was observed between climatic factors and scorpionic accidents. However, the high number of cases of scorpionic accidents was observed in the last 11 years studied. It was evident that during the study period there was no statistical relationship when climatic factors were correlated to scorpionic accidents. On its turn, when it was verified the results of the geoprocessing analysis, it was seen that anthropic factors have been motivating the potentiation of the occurrence of these accidents.

In this setting, cataract surgery led to a significant improvement in visual function but the VA results did not meet World Health Organization quality criteria. IND-VFQ results, although complementary to clinical VA outcomes did not, in isolation, reflect the need to improve program quality.