Social sciences for the prevention of blindness

Organizationsworking for the elimination of Chlamydia triggered blindness (trachoma) followthe WHO SAFE (surgery of trichiasis, antibiotics, face washing andenvironmental changes) strategy with the aim to achieve a minimum of 80% ofchildren with clean faces in the endemic communities, mass treatment coveringthe whole district with trachoma rates of 10% or more and surveillance plans.Trachoma recurrence is common after implementing 3, 5 or even 7 times the SAFEstrategy, revealing that the cognitive processes that require assimilation andintegration of knowledge did not register with parents, care takers andchildren. Moreover, repeated awareness campaigns to improve hygiene did notsystematically produce irreversible changes of behavior in neglectedpopulations. Facing evidence, the rational supporting mass drug administrationas the mainstay of preventable blindness elimination requires a wider scopethan those of mathematical models. The inhibition to perceive disappointingoutcomes requiring repeated interventions may suggest from a sociologic pointof view that the strategies are product of those evaluating the activities ofthose that fund them and vice versa. In this field, similar articulationappears for reciprocal interactions of researchers with those judging thepertinence and quality of their work. So far, the lack of autocritic forcertain elimination strategy approaches may reveal inbred circles that did notclearly assess that antibiotics, trichiasis surgery and education limited toimprovement of hygiene are inefficient if not associated with long term basiceducational actions in schools.

Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness

Organizations working for the elimination of <i>Chlamydia</i>-triggered blindness (trachoma) follow the WHO SAFE strategy (surgery for trichiasis, antibiotics, face washing and environmental changes) with the aim to achieve a minimum of 80% of children with clean faces in endemic communities, mass treatment covering the whole district with trachoma rates of 10% or more and surveillance plans. Trachoma recurrence that is common after implementing the SAFE strategy 3, 5 or even 7 times evidence that the cognitive processes requiring assimilation and integration of knowledge did not register with parents, caretakers and children. Moreover, repeated awareness campaigns to improve hygiene did not systematically produce irreversible changes of behavior in neglected populations. In view of this evidence, the rational behind mass drug administration as the mainstay of preventable blindness elimination demands a wider scope than simple mathematical models. The reluctance to see disappointing outcomes that leads to repeated interventions may suggest from a sociologic point of view that the strategies are products of those evaluating the activities of those who fund them and vice versa. A similar articulation emerges for reciprocal interactions between researchers and those judging the pertinence and quality of their work. So far, the lack of autocritic elimination strategy approaches may expose inbred circles that did not properly grasp the fact that antibiotics, trichiasis surgery and education limited to improvement of hygiene are inefficient if not associated with long-term basic educational actions in schools.

The Limits of Medical Interventions for the Elimination of Preventable Blindness

Background: Health authorities are working toward the global elimination of trachoma by the year 2020 with actions focused on the World Health Organization SAFE strategy (surgery of trichiasis, antibiotics, face washing and environmental changes) with emphasis on hygienist approaches for education. Objectives: The present survey was performed to assess the sustainability of the SAFE strategy 3 years after trachoma was eliminated from 6 villages. Methods: In February 2013 a rapid trachoma assessment was conducted in 6 villages of Kolofata’s district, Extreme north Region, Cameroon, where trachoma was eliminated in 2010. A total of 300 children (1–10 years) from 6 villages were examined by trained staff. Results: The prevalence of active trachoma (children aged > 1 and < 10 years) in 2013 was 15% and in at least 25% was observed absence of face washing and flies in their eyes and nose. Income level, quality of roads, hygiene, and illiteracy were similar in all the villages; they did not change between 2010 and 2013 and could not be analyzed as independent risk factors. Discussion: The heterogeneity of methods described for clinical trials makes it inappropriate to conduct meta-analysis for the present and for other SAFE-related trials. The results obtained after implementation the SAFE strategy (recurrence) reveal that the causes (infectious agents and dirtiness) and effects (illness) were not connected by illiterate people living under conditions of extreme poverty. So far, antibiotics, surgery and hygiene education are insufficient for the sustainability of trachoma elimination and highlight that hypothetic-deductive processes seem not operational after implementing the awareness campaigns. Trachoma recurrence detected in 2013 in sedentary populations of Kolofata receiving efficacious treatments against <i>Chlamydia sp</i>. suggest that the elimination goals will be delayed if strategies are limited to medical actions. Restricting efforts to repeated pharmacological and surgical interventions for people infected with susceptible bacteria could be understood as the hidden side of a passive attitude toward basic education actions.

Clinical and Microbiological Assessment of Trachoma in the Kolofata Health District, Far North Region, Cameroon

Background and aims: Trachoma is a sight-threatening process triggered by the infection of the conjunctiva with <i>Chlamydiae</i>. Blindness associated with trachoma was reported in Sahelian areas of Cameroon. However, data on the prevalence of this neglected infection in the Far North Region are not available. The aim of this study was a) to assess clinical trachoma and b) to detect <i>Chlamydia</i> in the conjunctiva of trachomatous populations living in the Far North Regions of Cameroon.Methods: A total of 2,423 randomly selected children (1–10 years) and 1,590 women over 14 from randomly selected villages from the Kolofata Health District (115,000 inhabitants) were included in a cross-sectional study in February 2009. Trained staff examined and obtained conjunctival swabs from trachomatous subjects. DNA was extracted and amplified to detect <i>Chlamydia</i> DNA by real-time PCR. The quality of sampling was assessed by quantifying the number of epithelial cells.Results: Children (2,397 or 98.9% of the predicted number) and women (1,543; 97.0%) were examined. The prevalence of follicular trachoma (TF) in children was 21% (95% CI 17.8–24.5) and of intense inflammatory trachoma (TI) 5.2% (95% CI 3.6–7.3). Among the women, trichiasis (TT) was observed in 3.4% (95% CI 2.4–4.7), corneal opacities (CO) in 1.4% (95% CI 0.8–2.3) and trachoma-related blindness in 0.9% (95% CI 0.4–1.8). Conditions related to income, illiteracy, latrines, water supply and animals wandering close to dwellings were similar in all the villages. PCR was positive in 35% of children with active trachoma and in 6% of adult females presenting TT and/or related corneal opacities.Conclusion: The prevalence of trachoma and the severe trachoma <i>sequelae</i> found during this survey underline the urgent need to implement efficient blindness prevention interventions to improve the visual future of the people in the Sahelian region.

Contributions to the Improvement of Living Conditions among Neglected Populations with Trachoma

Objective: Trachoma (<i>Chlamydia</i>-triggered blinding infection) provoked irreversible visual impairment in about 8 million people in 2011, and the prevalence among children with dirty faces is more than three fold that among children with clean faces. In 250 villages with a high prevalence of trachoma (Kolofata district, Far North Region, Cameroon), the lack of water for facial cleanliness was reported during trachoma awareness campaigns. The objective of this study was to determine if the lack of water was linked with the absence of means to dig wells.Methods: Wells, waterholes, motorcycles, irrigation pumps, electricity, goats and oxen, cell phones and distance from waterholes were recorded in January 2011 in 50 randomized villages of Kolofata’s district.Results: The number of villages with <25 goats and <5 oxen was 0 and the number of adults owning <1 goat was 0. The cost of a pail of water was 0.01 USD. Motorcycles, cell phones and televisions have been reported in more than 66% of villages. The cost for the construction of lined shaft wells ranged between 15–35 goats and 0.5–3 oxen; the cost for drinking water wells ranged between 50–200 goats and 3–30 oxen.Discussion: No link between the means for digging wells at the village level and access to water was found. Social solidarity, which refers to a social debt owed by each person to his/her group, should be added to training guides to gauge its ability to release people from the dead end of having to wait for external assistance to gain access to water.

Reducing HIV Mortality: A New Paradox for Practitioners Working in Countries with Socialized Health-care Systems

The milestones marking substantial changes in the lives or in the survival of humans deserve to be remembered. It has been only 11 years since we experienced an event that not even the most optimistic amongst us would have predicted before 1997. Let us place the facts in time. At the beginning of the 80s, we faced the distressing reality that more than three quarters of all children, men and women found to have antibodies directed against a new infectious agent named human immune deficient virus (HIV) were bound to die. The mere reactivity of the serum of a human being against a virus characterized in 1983 (antibodies) handed an almost inevitable sentence of death. At that time the evolution of this viral infection was assessed by the quantification of a sub type of white cells, the auxiliary lymphocytes or CD4. This count was the principal evidence for most of the predictions on how a person might survive without degradation, and the value of such cells was the abacus used to forecast the time when an individual would develop irreversible blindness, to anticipate respiratory failure, and to predict the time before weakness would appear after devastating diarrhea, etc. We should recall that the CD4 cell count was even used as a predictor of the initiation of cognitive shrinkage, forecasting dementia as well as the signs that would take hold of personality as a consequence of infections or neoplastic transformations in the encephalitic mass.