Primary eye care in Malawi

Malawi's primary health care system includes provision for the prevention and treatment of eye diseases and injuries. The training of ophthalmic medical assistants and other development workers to recognize, treat and refer eye conditions has helped the extension of eye health services to rural communities. Mobile eye units have a very important role in this work

New data on the vision of South American Indians

A total of 466 males and 437 females from four Brazilian Indian tribes were tested for color blindness with Ishihara's plates. Defective persons were found in three of the four tribes, but when these and other groups are considered the evidence suggests that the frequency of this trait is lower among Amerindians than among Caucasian populations. Visual acuity tests were performed on 296 Yanomama Indians. Their visual acuity was apparently not as sharp as that of the Cayapo or Xavante. But the scarcity among the Yanomama of persons with serious visual impairment of subcutaneous nodules suggests that the focus of onchocerciasis discovered among them is of recent origin (Au)