• 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.

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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