Background: Contact lens usage is becoming increasingly popular amongst young people. Assessing their knowledge, attitudes and practices in relation to contact lens wear is therefore important, so that gaps in understanding or incorrect practices can be rectified to promote continued safety and success of contact lens wear. Objectives: This study aimed to assess and describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of contact lens wearers aged 18 to 30 years, in the greater Durban area of South Africa. Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practice of the participants. Results: Two hundred and forty six participants completed the survey. Young contact lens wearers in this sample generally had poor knowledge with regards to appropriate hygiene and contact lens wear complications. Despite wearers exhibiting a positive attitude with satisfactory hand hygiene and lens cleaning practices, important aspects such as lens case hygiene, storage and lens removal practices were found to be unsatisfactory. Compliance with after-care visits was also unsatisfactory. Conclusion: There is a need for contact lens practitioners to educate young contact lens wearers regarding appropriate contact lens-related care, to promote long term ocular health and contact lens-related safety. Keywords: Contact lens use; adolescent population; South Africa.

Congenital colour vision deficiency (CCVD) is an x-linked chromosome disorder that results from abnormalities in one or all three-cone type’s photoreceptors. Early assessment and diagnosis of CCVD is necessary to minimise the disability associated with the condition. Multistage sampling was used to determine the prevalence of CCVD among Black South African school children in Durban, South Africa. The examination included visual acuity measurements, ocular motility evaluation, retinoscopy, auto-refraction, and examination of the anterior segment, media and fundus. Colour vision testing was performed using Colour Vision Testing Made Easy colour plates (Home Vision Care, Gulf Breeze, FL). 1305 (704 boys and 601 girls) Black school children participated in the study. The overall prevalence of colour vision deficiency was 29 (2.2%), which was higher in boys (25, 4.2%) than girls (4, 0.6%), with prevalence of protanopia and deuteranopia found to be 10 (0.7%) and 19 (1.5%), respectively. The prevalence of protanopia and deuteranopia among males was nine (1.5%) and 16 (2.7%) respectively, which was significantly higher than the 1 (0.1%) protanopia and 3 (0.4%) deuteranopia in females (p < 0.05). Policies and guidelines for comprehensive school eye health programmes which screen children for CCVD are required in South Africa.

There is a rampant increase in diabetes prevalence globally. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is projected to carry the largest burden of diabetes (34.2 million) by 2030. This will inevitably cause a parallel increase in diabetes-associated complications; with the predominant complications being blindness due to diabetic retinopathy and diabetic cataracts. Eye programs in developing countries remain inadequate, existing as stand-alone programs, focused on the provision of acute symptomatic care at secondary and tertiary health levels. Over 60% of people with undiagnosed diabetes report to eye care facilities with already advanced retinopathy. While vision loss due to cataracts is reversible, loss of vision from diabetic retinopathy is irreversible. Developing countries have in the last two decades been significantly impacted by infectious pandemics; with SSA countries committing over 80% of their health budgets towards infectious diseases. Consequently, non-communicable diseases and eye health have been neglected. This paper aimed to highlight the importance of strengthening primary health care services to prevent diabetes-related blindness. In SSA, where economies are strained by infectious disease, the projected rise in diabetes prevalence calls for an urgent need to reorganize health systems to focus on life-long preventative and integrated measures. However, research is critical in determining how best to integrate these without further weakening health systems.

Background: Human resources for health are an essential component of any health system. South Africa’s National Development Plan identifies the need for a strengthened public health system and improvements in the quality of education and service delivery. While efforts to increase the number of trained health personnel are acknowledged, a lack of sustainable investment in improving the quality of health professions education in South Africa may have detrimental consequences for these national ideals. Discussion: South Africa’s economic growth has declined in recent years, placing pressure on its fiscal capacity and the ability of academic institutions to fund critical aspects relating to training needs within health professions education programmes. Increased intakes at universities have not been supported by concurrent increases in funding required to support evolving training needs. Reduced financial support for health professions education programs has implications for required resource capacity, and will potentially negatively impact the quality, as well as global competitiveness, of health professions training programmes in South Africa. Funding gaps which impact the quality of training also ultimately affect the quality of health services delivered by the health system in the long term. Conclusion: Political will in support of more sustainable funding mechanisms for ongoing investment into health professions education programs and their evolving training needs is required in order for South Africa to meet its development objectives as outlined in the National Development Plan and its National Health Insurance policy.

Background: Critical care units require an interprofessional management approach to optimise patients’ health. Clinical education and training delivered in remote healthcare settings are vital for fostering interprofessional collaboration (IPC) among health science students for future team functioning.Objectives: Our study explored the IPC among clinicians in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting at two South African decentralised clinical training facilities to understand the existing collaborative practices that students are exposed to during their clinical training.Method: A qualitative study design, utilising semi-structured interviews, was used to gather information on the experiences of 40 purposively selected participants working in the ICU settings at the two clinical sites. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed.Results: Four major themes were identified from the data, namely, scope-of-practice dispute, teamwork disruption, organisational obstacles and future aspirations.Conclusion: Participants believed that a lack of professional regard by medical doctors and an inadequate understanding of the role of other professionals impeded appropriate referral practice and collaborative team functioning. Under-exposure to interprofessional education (IPE) at an undergraduate level and the pervasive medical hierarchy were perceived as a primary attributable cause of this phenomenon. Moreover, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and persistent staff shortages purportedly obstructed potential opportunities to collaborate in multidisciplinary meetings. Participants believed that improving undergraduate IPE and compulsory multidisciplinary meetings to promote communication would improve team functioning in these clinical settings.Clinical Implications: Undergraduate IPE is a feasible approach to improve collaborative care in ICUs to achieve better patient outcomes.