02006nas a2200241   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653002900059653001400088653002200102653003700124653001100161653000900172653001800181653001300199653002200212100001800234245006700252300001000319490000600329520141500335022001401750       1998                            d  c1998 Mar-Apr10aAcademies and institutes10aBlindness10aHealth Priorities10aHealth Services Needs and Demand10aHumans10aMali10aOphthalmology10aResearch10aTropical Medicine1 aSchémann J F00a[Research at the African Institute of Tropical Ophthalmology].  a135-80 v83 a<p>Research is one of the four main activities of AITO. It is vital for the determination of health care priorities, and for the design, implementation, and evaluation of programs and projects in OCCCMED countries. Most of the research is surgical and focused on the diseases which cause blindness. Cataracts are the principal cause of blindness and have been the focus of many studies aimed at making surgery more accessible in terms of both geographical availability and cost. Trachoma is a major public health priority in the countries of the Sahel and a survey of its prevalence is underway in several countries. This study should lead to the development of preventive and curative treatments aimed at controlling blindness caused by trachoma by the year, 2020. Vitamin A deficiency, the cause of xerophthalmia and high mortality rates in infants, has been surveyed in several countries. A survey of glaucoma, another major cause of blindness which is often not recognized or treated, will be carried out in Bamako. Other studies focus on leprosy, malaria and the effects of visual disability on the quality of everyday life. It will be a major challenge over the next five years to develop the capacity within local populations to identify, design and implement research programs in community health aspects of ophthalmology that will take into account the needs and constraints of sub-Saharan Africa.</p>  a1157-5999