Mortality in an ophthalmic ward at a tertiary eye unit in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Ocular problems the world over have not drawn the attention they deserve outside the “Vision 2020 Programme” because of the associated negligibly low mortality rate. This has resulted in little if any funding at all being allocated for Eye Care Services by Central Governments outside the first world. Knowledge of the causes and rate of mortality among patients admitted to a tertiary eye unit in Zimbabwe would be of immense value in lobbing for funding and resource mobilization for Eye Care Services from Central Government. Traditionally Ophthalmic Wards are known to have the lowest mortality figures in hospitals the world over. Studies done in West Africa have confirmed low mortality figures in Ophthalmic Wards where orbital cellulites and orbital malignancies were among the leading causes of death.'2 Anecdotal reports in Zimbabwe suggest that we have higher mortality figures and different patterns of leading causes of mortality in our Ophthalmic Wards when compared to other units in Africa. The aim of this audit was to review all case records of patients who died in SKH Eye Unit Wards between August 1984 and October 2008 and determine the attributed causes of those deaths.