BACKGROUND The number of blind years resulting from blindness in children is alarmingly high. Blindness in children can have a significa nt impact on their performance at school as well as their social interaction and future employment as visually impaired children have a long lifetime of blindness ahead of them. The consequences of visual impairment and blindness in children are an important public health issues with greater impact in developing countries, where 80% of the blindness in

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... occurs. The control of blindness in children is considered a high priority area within the World Health Organization's VISION 2020 initiative. However many developing countries do not have the accurate information about the magnitude and causes of visual impairment and blindness in children, from which the scope and priorities for prevention and treatment can be identified. To date the established Pediatric Eye Clinic, which works as a Tertiary Eye Centre does not have baseline data on the magnitude and causes of visual impairment and blindness in children.