News and notices. Comm Eye Health Vol. 11 No. 28 1998. December 01, 1998

Trachoma CD-Rom

Produced by The Wellcome Trust

I found this to be a very interesting and informative teaching aid. It must be highly recommended for anyone who is involved in training health workers in trachoma control and prevention and who has access to a computer which can read compact discs. I particularly like the way the four main tutorials were structured. The first provided some general information. The second gave specific training and teaching for primary health care workers involved in the community and in community action to prevent trachoma. The third and fourth tutorials described the surgical treatment of trichiasis for ophthalmic clinical assistants who may be involved in this type of surgery.

I also liked the self assessment tests at the end of each small topic. However, it would have been good to include appropriate information and guidance when the student has given the wrong answer.

There is also the opportunity of using this disc to produce teaching materials by printing out copies of the different pages. The colour illustrations and diagrams are both of very high quality.

I did have some difficulty in finding a computer which was compatible with this particular disc. However, the disc comes with a clear user guide and a help line for those who are having difficulties in getting it loaded.

The Wellcome Trust must be congratulated for taking this initiative in using up-to-date technology for health education in prevention of blindness in developing countries. This CD is part of their series on Topics in International Health, and we hope to see similar CDs on other major causes of blindness.

For orders please contact:
Tania Fisher, CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 8DE, UK
Tel: +44 (0)1491 832111
Fax: +44 (0)1491 826090
E-mail: [email protected]

Special Prices for Journal Readers:

For individual readers: £20 (or $35) per CD; for institutions in developing countries: £25 (or $45); for institutions in all other countries: £45 (or $80). Prices include postage and packing. If you are involved in trachoma work in a developing country and would like to be put in touch with organisations which may be able to sponsor your purchase of the Trachoma CD, please contact Liz Woolley at CAB International.

Note: The minimum requirements for using the TIH discs are:

  • PC with Windows 3.11, Windows 95 or Windows NT

  • 486 or Pentium processor (Pentium recommended)

  • At least 16 MB of free RAM

  • Monitor capable of displaying 16,000 colours at 800 x 600 resolution.

News and notices in Comm Eye Health Vol. 11 No. 28 1998 –