Mid-term evaluation : program for prevention of blindness and public eye health in Bulgaria

Evaluation covers the period 1/91-6/92. This innovative and important project was undertaken in a former communist nation to establish a comprehensive outpatient and surgical eye care facility using a U.S. model; to obtain baseline data on the prevalence of ocular disease and blindness; and to prepare a strategy for reducing blindness in Bulgaria. The project has achieved its goal -- the Center for Sight has been established and the survey has been completed. It is imperative at this time to concentrate on further development of the public health aspect of the program. The project has been hampered by the political climate in Bulgaria -- the country has been described as being in a state of quasi-anarchy in its efforts to establish a democratic government and a free market economy -- but also by the opposition of an academic Chair of Ophthalmology in Bulgaria. (Author abstract)