| Summary: | In much of Africa, childhood cataract is becoming one of the leading causes of new cases of blindness reported per year.Although there is insufficient data on childhood cataract, both congenital and developmental, the backlog of children in need of surgery is estimated to be around 100 children per million population. The number of new cases of corneal blindness is estimated to be around 20 children per million population per year.The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that there be one paediatric ophthalmology tertiary centre per 10 million population4; however, few countries in Africa have reached this target. Even in settings with tertiary centres, few children are brought in for surgery; of those who are, most are brought in too late for surgeons to be able to achieve outcomes of the highest quality.5 This can be explained by the fact that both communities and health care providers are not sufficiently aware that children can develop cataract. The lack of programmes to identify and refer children with cataract compounds this problem. It also needs to be noted that, in most hospitals or other surgical facilities, boys outnumber girls; this is primarily due to cultural constraints and does not reflect any recognised biological risk factors associated with males.Virtually all children receiving surgery for congenital cataract in Africa will require long term follow-up for refractive error correction and low vision care. However, follow-up remains either patchy or non-existent.
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