Childhood blindness in Jamaica.

Abstract

Examinations were performed on the 108 blind Jamaican children (VA less than 6/60 in the better eye) in residential care. The congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) was the leading preventable cause of childhood blindness, accounting for 22% of children examined. Improvement of the rubella immunisation programme and the introduction of appropriate surgical procedures constitute recent attempts to combat childhood blindness.