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Ocular coloboma is a rare congenital disability. If involving the macula, it affects the patient’s vision and subsequently affects childhood development and quality of life in the future. Appropriate low vision aid and timely rehabilitation can provide the best possible quality of life for visually impaired children. We report a 9-year-old boy who presented with a diminution of vision in both eyes, and who was just enrolled in pre-school. He was diagnosed with bilateral iridochorioretinal coloboma associated with nystagmus and unilateral cataract. After all the necessary evaluation, a telescope was prescribed for distance and a dome magnifier for near. Furthermore, a peaked cap and photo grey lens were given for outdoor activities. This case highlights the importance of low vision intervention in a visually impaired child. Appropriate low vision aid and rehabilitation can improve patients’ lifestyle and academic performance who are diagnosed with iridochorioretinal coloboma.

Introduction: Amblyopia is defined as a reduction in visual acuity unilaterally or bilaterally without any detectable cause. It is a major public health issue in developing and underdeveloped countries. Its prevalence is usually underestimated because of proper study and lack of awareness. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of amblyopia among patients attending the Outpatient Department of Ophthalmology of a tertiary care centre. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among outpatients visiting a tertiary care centre in the Outpatient Department of Ophthalmology between 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board (Registration number: 407/2020 P). All patients had gone through a comprehensive eye examination. Convenience sampling was used. Point estimate and 99% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Among 82972 patients, prevalence of amblyopia was 344 (0.41%) (0.37-0.46, 99% Confidence Interval). Amblyopia was more common in anisometropia 263 (63.50%). A total of 117 (34%) patients had no history of eye examination and were newly diagnosed with amblyopia. Astigmatism was the most common type of refractive error among 224 (56.70%) amblyopic patients. Conclusions: The prevalence of amblyopia was found to be lower than in previous studies conducted in similar settings. Early detection and diagnosis of amblyopia can help to design more effective plans and treatments to reduce amblyopia through optical correction and amblyopia therapy.

Introduction: To address regional differences in the distribution of health workers between rural and urban areas, the Nepal government has adopted the policy of deploying fresh medical graduates to remote areas for 2 years under a compulsory bonding service program. However, the impact of such an approach of redistribution of human resources for health is not well understood, nor is the experience of the health workers who are deployed. This study aimed to understand the experience of the medical graduates who have served under the bonding service program and suggest ways to improve the program as well as to make health service provision easier through the young doctors. Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire-based survey was administered online to 69 young medical doctors who had worked under the bonding service program. The responses were analysed qualitatively and the findings were presented in separate pre-established domains. Results: Most young doctors felt they were not adequately prepared for the bonding service program. Adapting to the deployed place and to the local culture was a challenge to some young doctors, which hindered their potential to serve the local community. Most found the response from the rural communities to be positive even though they faced some challenges in the beginning. While the young doctors found serving the rural communities motivating, they felt that they were limited in their capacity to provide an optimal level of health service due to limitations of infrastructure and medical equipment. They also felt that the compulsory bonding program had stunted their growth potential as medical doctors without adequately compensating them for their time and service. Conclusion: Despite the program's noble intentions, the medical doctors who were involved with the bonding service program felt that the program had yet to address several basic needs of the doctors who were deployed for service provision. In order to motivate the doctors to work in rural areas in future after the compulsory binding has ended, the stakeholders need to address the existing gaps in policies and infrastructure.