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Background: Asians from the Indian Subcontinent form the largest ethnic minority in the United Kingdom. Data on the prevalence of visually-impairing eye conditions in this population are vital for planning eye health care services., Materials and Methods: This survey was based in the two London boroughs with the largest Asian populations. Subjects originating from the Indian Subcontinent were identified from GP practice records. All subjects were asked about demographic details and were given a full ophthalmological examination. The severity of cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related maculopathy was recorded. Blindness was defined as logMAR visual acuity of 0.99 (Snellen equivalence 20/200 in the better eye) or worse, 'low vision' was defined as Snellen equivalence of 20/63 or worse (logMAR 0.5 or higher), and visual impairment was defined as visual acuity worse than 20/40., Results: The median age was 56 years. Two hundred and eighty four subjects did not attend for eye examination. Of the 922 examined, 128 subjects (13.9%) were 'visually impaired,' 39 (4.2%) had 'low vision,' and 6 (0.7%) were bilaterally blind. The overall prevalence of cataract, open-angle glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy were 77%, 1.0%, 8.7%, and 8.8%, respectively., Conclusion: Visual impairment rates amongst Asians seem to be similar to Caucasian populations in the UK. The prevalence of cataract and diabetic retinopathy is higher, while the risk of ARMD and OAG are comparable. In view of the high cataract prevalence, a more detailed assessment of the visual profile and factors limiting healthcare accessibility in this community are needed.

Background/aims: Under-potent generic antibiotics sold in developing world countries may be contributing to positive selection of resistance organisms and to unpredictability in clinical outcome, leading to a loss of confidence among physicians locally. The objective of this study was to determine whether reports of unpredictable outcome for generic ciprofloxacin antibiotic eye drops in India could be the result of inadequate concentration of preparations sold by pharmacies., Methods: 130 ciprofloxacin eye drop samples sold by pharmacies were collected from seven locations in north, central, and south India; 30 were randomly selected for testing. All samples were assayed using validated methods of reverse phase chromatography and fluorescence detection at a international antibiotic reference laboratory in the United Kingdom. Results were compared with advertised concentrations within the context of internationally accepted variability ranges., Results: In total, six out of the 30 samples tested had ciprofloxacin concentrations lower than the standard advisory ranges of plus or minus 5% of stated content for 3 mg/ml pharmaceutical preparations. The ciprofloxacin content of these eye drops ranged from -36.4% to -16.1% of the stated content (median -21.73%). 24 out of 30 samples were found to be over the standard advisory ranges of plus or minus 5%, at a median of +19.42% (interquartile range (IQR) +14.28 to +25.13). Intra-batch variability of two selected samples was wide at -22.83% to +33.93% (n=11) and -17.07% to +31.20% (n=12)., Conclusions: Approximately 20% of generic ciprofloxacin eye drops, purchased without prescription in India were under-potent. In a number of preparations the antibiotic content was sufficiently low as to have a potential impact on clinical outcome and possibly lead to the selection of resistant isolates in individual patients. More widespread studies are justified to identify the extent of under-potency of widely used generic antibiotic medications in developing countries.