Doctors and other healthcare practitioners need to be aware of regulations that apply to them during the outbreak of Covid-19 and national lockdown - particularly the risk of being held criminally liable for assault, attempted murder or murder if they intentionally expose others to Covid-19. Inclusion of healthcare practitioners and staff

Introduction The Minister of Health has, in terms of section 22A(2) of the Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965 (Act No. 101 of 1965), on the recommendation of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), made and updated the Schedules as per Government Notice R.220 (Medicines and Related Substances Act, 1965: Schedules) in,

  This article is aimed at the novice scleral lens fitter.  It will address the steps to follow, as well as some basic concepts.  Before we start, we need to get a basic understanding of the scleral topography, as opposed to our traditional understanding of corneal topography.  One can imagine that

By Chris Faul
As optometrists we are expected to be able to give patients discerning advice about lighting. Much has changed over the years, which begs the question: “Am I up-to-date? Am I able to give my patients the best advice on lighting, with respect to their visual status?”

Article courtesy: Points de Vue – Essilor
The prevalence of myopia and high myopia is on the rise across the world. Recent work from the Brien Holden Vision Institute esti­mates that by 2050, five billion (50%) people will be myopic, one billion (10%) highly myopic. This may have important implications for planning comprehensive eye care services, including refractive ser­vices such as spectacles and contact lenses for correcting and slowing myopia progression. Optical and environmental interventions can help in preventing and managing high myopia related ocular complications and reduce the burden of myopia.

By Chris Faul
Lawn bowls are all about judging the distance to the jack and delivering the wood at the required “weight.” Good vision and depth perception would obviously be important elements. In order to have depth perception, you must have binocular vision, also known as stereopsis. Indeed, depth perception is the ability to perceive the world in three dimensions and to judge the distance of objects. The most important aspect of binocular vision is having two eyes; people relying on the vision from only one eye…

  As Editor of Vision, all too frequently, I receive queries about the ins and outs of CPD. It stands to reason, a full understanding of the CPD rules, as laid down by the HPCSA, is of paramount importance in order to manage your commitment effectively. Audits do happen,  and mostly

Article: Courtesy Essilor – Points du VueOne of the most common disorders of binocular vision encountered in the eye clinic is convergence insufficiency (CI). Population studies estimate upwards of 8% of the population suffer from convergence insufficiency, with the incidence increasing with age. Convergence insufficiency results with vergence ability at near is unable to match vergence demand. When this occurs, sensory fusion may be disrupted leading to intermittent diplopia, asthenopia, and fatigue. Clinicians should be able to quickly screen for abnormalities in convergence ability of a patient and provide a thorough evaluation of binocular ability when indicated. Many patients will respond well to vergence therapy, leading to both an increase in fusional vergence ability and a subsequent decrease in symptoms.

Courtesy Points du Vue – EssilorThe field of retinal imaging has evolved very rapidly over the course of these past few years. After angiography (with fluorescein and indocyanine green) used for exploration of the vascular network of the retina, the appearance of optical coherence tomography (OCT) at the end of the nineties, was the second revolution in retinal imaging. Firstly Time Domain, and now today Spectral Domain, this non-invasive examination, without any counter-indication, is used to analyse the retinal structure with a resolution of 5 to 7μm and has become an essential examination in the diagnosis and monitoring of mainly macular medical-surgical retinal pathologies.

By Dr Marissa Willemse
It is a well-known dry eye questionnaire. Ever wondered whether the long hours in front of the computer is causing you any harm? Or if the gritty feeling is due to allergy or dry eyes? Seek no further – the OSDI will help. The questionnaire was created by the Outcomes Research Group at Allergan Inc, in order to…