OPHTHALMOLOGY IN LUANDA (ANGOLA) - A HOSPITAL-BASED REPORT

Aims/Background-As part of a 4 year Spanish development aid programme, an ophthahmic hospital was set up in Luanda in 1991 for the in situ t raining of local ophthalmologists. Presented here are the data obtaine d from 4201 patients treated during the first 2 years of the project. Methods-Patients were referred to the institute from the emergency war d at the Luanda General Hospital, selected mainly according to the sev erity of their disease. The following data were collected from the cli nical reports: age, sex, diagnosis (single or multiple), type of treat ment (medical or surgical), acuity of the best eye at the time of diag nosis, and main disease group. Results-The main causes of blindness tr eated were: cataracts; glaucoma; optic nerve diseases (neuritis and at rophy); trauma; xerophthalmia; uveitis; hereditary retinal diseases (d egenerative myopia, retinitis pigmentosa, albinism, and Stargardt's di sease); retinal detachment; and diabetic retinopathy. Conclusions-Sani tary resources in Angola are generally inadequate, and ophthalmic care is no exception to this. Owing to the high percentage of preventable or treatable blinding diseases in this environment, a campaign of soci al education should always be held along with any medical programme, i n order to optimise the available resources.