ISSN: 2578-465X
Authors: Raju Kaiti*, Ranjila Shyangbo and Indra Prasad Sharma
Background: Organizing and participating in camps have been an integral part of health services, especially in developing countries like Nepal. Hospital service and specialist care are still out of reach of many people. Still many patients wait in free camps for the treatment of their diseases. Health Camp content is focused on improving or extending the efficacy of health care by embracing social networks, open standards, and the latest web and mobile technologies. With existing and limited resources too, with full community participation also we can serve the community and this is the main theme of organizing health camps. Methods: Two days health camp was conducted on October 21st and 22nd, 2019. The camp was organized at Nagre-Rajbash of Kavre District, Nepal. Examination procedures included visual acuity testing, anterior segment evaluation, retinoscopy and subjective refraction and Fundoscopy. Also, color vision testing, fluorescein staining and dilating procedures were performed in necessary patients. Results: Total number of patients seen in the camp was 252. There were 155 female patients and 97 male patients for eye examination. Most of the patients aged over 50. 122 cases had refractive error excluding presbyopia. Astigmatism was the most common refractive error followed by myopia. 25 cases had unilateral or bilateral mature cataracts, 82 cases had unilateral or bilateral immature cataracts, 26 cases had conjunctivitis (infective and allergic), and 31 cases had pterygium. Conclusion: Screening camps in rural area are very important community tools for early detection and proper referral and management of ocular morbidities. Making the community participate in such screening camps takes off a load of huge numbers of skilled and trained human resources in underdeveloped and developing countries like Nepal. Concerned authorities should keep this fact and advantage of screening camps on mind and always promote screening camps in rural areas where health facilities are difficultly achievable.
Keywords: Screening camps; Refractive error; Cataract; Vision Screening; Volunteers
