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Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness
Organizations working for the elimination of Chlamydia-triggered blindness (trachoma) follow the WHO SAFE strategy (surgery for trichiasis, antibiotics, face washing and environmental changes) with the aim to achieve a minimum of 80% of children with clean faces in endemic communities, mass treatmen...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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The Japanese Society of Tropical Medicine
2015
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4491490/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26161032 http://dx.doi.org/10.2149/tmh.2014-32 |
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author | Goldschmidt, Pablo |
author_facet | Goldschmidt, Pablo |
author_sort | Goldschmidt, Pablo |
collection | PubMed |
description | Organizations working for the elimination of Chlamydia-triggered blindness (trachoma) follow the WHO SAFE strategy (surgery for trichiasis, antibiotics, face washing and environmental changes) with the aim to achieve a minimum of 80% of children with clean faces in endemic communities, mass treatment covering the whole district with trachoma rates of 10% or more and surveillance plans. Trachoma recurrence that is common after implementing the SAFE strategy 3, 5 or even 7 times evidence that the cognitive processes requiring assimilation and integration of knowledge did not register with parents, caretakers and children. Moreover, repeated awareness campaigns to improve hygiene did not systematically produce irreversible changes of behavior in neglected populations. In view of this evidence, the rational behind mass drug administration as the mainstay of preventable blindness elimination demands a wider scope than simple mathematical models. The reluctance to see disappointing outcomes that leads to repeated interventions may suggest from a sociologic point of view that the strategies are products of those evaluating the activities of those who fund them and vice versa. A similar articulation emerges for reciprocal interactions between researchers and those judging the pertinence and quality of their work. So far, the lack of autocritic elimination strategy approaches may expose inbred circles that did not properly grasp the fact that antibiotics, trichiasis surgery and education limited to improvement of hygiene are inefficient if not associated with long-term basic educational actions in schools. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4491490 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | The Japanese Society of Tropical Medicine |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-44914902015-07-09 Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness Goldschmidt, Pablo Trop Med Health Reviews and Opinions Organizations working for the elimination of Chlamydia-triggered blindness (trachoma) follow the WHO SAFE strategy (surgery for trichiasis, antibiotics, face washing and environmental changes) with the aim to achieve a minimum of 80% of children with clean faces in endemic communities, mass treatment covering the whole district with trachoma rates of 10% or more and surveillance plans. Trachoma recurrence that is common after implementing the SAFE strategy 3, 5 or even 7 times evidence that the cognitive processes requiring assimilation and integration of knowledge did not register with parents, caretakers and children. Moreover, repeated awareness campaigns to improve hygiene did not systematically produce irreversible changes of behavior in neglected populations. In view of this evidence, the rational behind mass drug administration as the mainstay of preventable blindness elimination demands a wider scope than simple mathematical models. The reluctance to see disappointing outcomes that leads to repeated interventions may suggest from a sociologic point of view that the strategies are products of those evaluating the activities of those who fund them and vice versa. A similar articulation emerges for reciprocal interactions between researchers and those judging the pertinence and quality of their work. So far, the lack of autocritic elimination strategy approaches may expose inbred circles that did not properly grasp the fact that antibiotics, trichiasis surgery and education limited to improvement of hygiene are inefficient if not associated with long-term basic educational actions in schools. The Japanese Society of Tropical Medicine 2015-06 2015-03-25 /pmc/articles/PMC4491490/ /pubmed/26161032 http://dx.doi.org/10.2149/tmh.2014-32 Text en 2015 Japanese Society of Tropical Medicine This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
spellingShingle | Reviews and Opinions Goldschmidt, Pablo Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness |
title | Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness |
title_full | Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness |
title_fullStr | Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness |
title_full_unstemmed | Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness |
title_short | Social Sciences for the Prevention of Blindness |
title_sort | social sciences for the prevention of blindness |
topic | Reviews and Opinions |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4491490/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26161032 http://dx.doi.org/10.2149/tmh.2014-32 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT goldschmidtpablo socialsciencesforthepreventionofblindness |