http://www.who.

int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/ Visual impairment and blindness

Fact Sheet N282 June 2012

Key facts

285 million people are visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision. About 90% of the world's visually impaired live in developing countries. Globally, uncorrected refractive errors are the main cause of visual impairment; cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in middle- and low-income countries. The number of people visually impaired from infectious diseases has greatly reduced in the last 20 years. 80% of all visual impairment can be avoided or cured.

Definitions
There are four levels of visual function, according to the International Classification of Diseases -10 (Update and Revision 2006):

normal vision moderate visual impairment severe visual impairment blindness.

Moderate visual impairment combined with severe visual impairment are grouped under the term low vision: low vision taken together with blindness represents all visual impairment.

The causes of visual impairment

Globally the major causes of visual impairment are:

uncorrected refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism), 43 % cataract, 33% glaucoma, 2%.

Who is at risk?
Approximately 90% of visually impaired people live in developing countries.
People aged 50 and over

About 65 % of all people who are visually impaired are aged 50 and older, while this age group comprises about 20 % of the world's population. With an increasing elderly population in many countries, more people will be at risk of age-related visual impairment.
Children below age 15

An estimated 19 million children are visually impaired. Of these, 12 million children are visually impaired due to refractive errors, a condition that could be easily diagnosed and corrected. 1.4 million are irreversibly blind for the rest of their lives.

Changes over the last twenty years

Overall, visual impairment worldwide has decreased since the early 1990s. This is despite an aging global elderly population. This decrease is principally the result of a reduction in visual impairment from infectious diseases through concerted public health action.

The global response to prevention of blindness

Globally, 80% of all visual impairment can be prevented or cured. Areas of progress over the last 20 years include:

governments establishing national programmes to prevent and control visual impairment; eye care services increasingly integrated into primary and secondary health care systems, with a focus on the provision of services that are available, affordable and high quality; campaigns to raise awareness, including school-based education; and stronger international partnerships, with engagement of the private sector and civil society.

Data over the last 20 years shows that there has been significant progress in preventing and curing visual impairment in many countries. Furthermore, there has been a massive reduction in onchocerciasis-related blindness as part of a significant reduction in the disease. This has been achieved through a number of successful international partnerships. Specific achievements include Ghana and Morocco, both of whom have reported elimination of trachoma (2010 and 2007 respectively). Over the last decade, Brazil has been providing eye care services through the national social security system. Since 2009, China has invested over 100 million dollars in cataract surgeries. Oman has completely integrated eye care service provision in the primary health care framework over the last decade and since 1995 India has made available funds for eye care service provision for the poorest at district level.

http://www.cibavision.com/eye-health-care/vision-statistics.shtml Did you know that 80 percent of all blindness is avoidable?1 Or, that more than 800 million people worldwide are impacted in their daily lives by the effects of blindness, severe vision impairment or near vision sight loss?1,5 Or, that the sight restoration and blindness prevention strategies are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care?1

Global Statistics on Blindess & Vision Impairment

Blindness & Visual Impairment by the Numbers

Approximately 800 million people worldwide are blind, severely visually impaired or have near vision sight loss according to estimates by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness1,5 Of these, 45 million people are blind and 269 million are significantly visually impaired1; an additional 517 million people require spectacles for reading and other close up activities5 Approximately 80 percent of blindness is avoidable, i.e., treatable and/or preventable1 145 million people have low vision due to uncorrected refractive errors.1 In most cases, normal vision could be restored with eye glasses or contact lenses Regular eye exams, glasses or contact lenses could transform the lives of millions of people

The People Affected

Women face a significantly greater risk of vision loss than men: two-thirds of blind people worldwide are women and girls1 Ninety percent of blind people live in low-income countries, many of the very poorest people in the world are blind or significantly visually impaired1 About 82 percent of all people who are visually impaired are age 50 and older2 More than 12 million children ages five to 15 are visually impaired because of uncorrected refractive errors, conditions that could be easily diagnosed and corrected with glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery2

Looking to the Future

Infectious causes of blindness are decreasing as a result of public health interventions1 Aging populations and lifestyle changes mean that chronic blinding conditions such as diabetic retinopathy are projected to rise exponentially1 Without effective, major intervention, the number of blind people worldwide has been projected to increase to 76 million by 20201

Causes of Blindess and Visual Impairment

Four Levels of Visual Function2

Normal Vision

Moderate Visual Impairment

Severe Visual Impairment

Blindness
Leading Causes of Blindness (in order)

Cataract: a clouding of the lens of the eye that impedes the passage of light2 Uncorrected refractive errors: myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), or astigmatism2 Glaucoma: a group of diseases that result in damage of the optic nerve2 Age-related macular degeneration: involves the loss of a person's central field of vision2

Other Major Causes

Corneal opacities: eye diseases that scar the cornea2 Diabetic retinopathy: associated with diabetes2 Blinding trachoma: bacterial condition causing painful scarring in the cornea2 Eye conditions in children such as cataract, retinopathy of prematurity, and vitamin A deficiency2 Onchocerciasis (river blindness): a parasitic disease caused by filarial worms and transmitted through the bites of infected blackflies 3

Refractive Errors

A refractive error is a common eye disorder that can sometimes be so severe that it causes visual impairment.4 It occurs when the eye cannot clearly focus on images resulting in blurred vision.4 The three most common refractive errors are:

Myopia (nearsightedness): difficulty seeing distant objects clearly4 Hyperopia (farsightedness): difficulty seeing close objects clearly4 Astigmatism: distorted vision due to an irregularly curved cornea (the clear covering of the eye)4

A fourth condition, presbyopia, leads to difficulty reading or seeing at arm's length.4 Presbyopia is due to agerelated changes inside the eye and is universal among people over the age of 40.4 This condition is linked to aging.4