Public health ophthalmology: a comprehensive model for the prevention of blindness in developing nations

In recent years, blindness in developing nations has been increasingly recognized as a public health problem requiring new approaches. To better prepare eye care professionals to assume their multidisciplinary responsibilities as epidemiologists, health planners, administrators, and educators, a new conceptual model is presented. This eye care plan and delivery scheme for developing nations attempts to integrate three essential disciplines of blindness prevention (epidemiology, administration, and education) with six major causes of blindness (cataract, trachoma, glaucoma, xerophthalmia, onchocerciasis, and leprosy) at three levels of intervention (community, primary, and secondary). The result can be conceptualized as a three-dimensional geometric model. This spatial construct has many practical applications and should serve as a useful frame of reference for eye care professionals and organizations active in international ophthalmology and blindness prevention in developing countries.