- Globally, it is estimated that approximately 1.3 billion people live with some form of vision impairment.
- Approximately 80% of all vision impairment is considered avoidable/treatable.
- Globally, the leading causes of vision impairment are uncorrected refractive errors (the need for glasses) and cataracts.
- The majority of people with vision impairment are over the age of 50 years.
- 9/10 blind people live in low socio-economic (developing) countries.
Why is it important to fix our global visual impairment and blindness problem?
Low vision can contribute to;
- Trips and falls leading to hospitalisation
- Loss of independence and social networks
- Depression and mental illness
- Increased nursing home care dependency
- Delayed cognitive development and language acquisition in children
- Economic burden on society, families and individuals
- Increased dependence on social services and mobility
