Table 3 Avoidable (preventable and treatable) and unavoidable causes of blindness and severe visual impairment in children.
| n (%) | |
|---|---|
| Preventable | |
| Vitamin A deficiency plus other* | 224 (11.6) |
| Vitamin A deficiency | 118 (6.1) |
| Measles | 118 (6.1) |
| Meningitis | 30 (1.6) |
| Trauma | 15 (0.8) |
| Ophthalmia neonatorum | 14 (0.7) |
| Harmful traditional practice | 7 (0.4) |
| Other (eg, toxoplasmosis, infectious keratitis) | 11 (0.6) |
| Subtotal | 537 (27.8) |
| Treatable | |
| Cataract | 528 (27.3) |
| Pseudo/aphakia | 101 (5.2) |
| Glaucoma | 83 (4.3) |
| Others (eg, ROP, raised ICP, tumours, epilepsy) | 25 (1.3) |
| Uveitis | 22 (1.1) |
| Keratoconus/dystrophy | 21 (1.1) |
| Refractive error | 11 (0.6) |
| Retinal detachment | 10 (0.5) |
| Subtotal | 801 (41.4) |
| Unavoidable | |
| CEA (microphthalmos, anophthalmos, coloboma) | 223 (11.5) |
| Retinal dystrophies | 223 (11.5) |
| Optic nerve disease (atrophy, hypoplasia) | 102 (5.3) |
| Other† | 33 (1.7) |
| Removed, phthisical, or disorganised | 16 (0.8) |
| Subtotal | 597 (30.8) |
| Grand total | 1935 (100) |
*Strong history of severe febrile illness with or without diarrhoea
†Albinism, cortical blindness, congenital nystagmus, corneal opacity with other eye anomalies (eg anterior segment dysgenesis, microphthalmos, congenital cataract, sclerocornea).
ROP, retinopathy of prematurity; ICP, intracranial pressure; CEA, congenital eye anomaly.