§In 2002, more than 161
million people were visually impaired, of whom 124 million people had low
vision and 37 million were blind
all over the world.
§The WHO estimates that, for every blind person, an average
of 3.4 people have low vision.
§More than 82% of
all blind are 50 years of age and older,
although they represent only 19% of
the world's population.
§Available studies consistently indicate that in every region
of the world, and at all ages, females
have a significantly higher risk of being visually impaired than males.
§Childhood blindness is a significant problem, with an estimated
1.4 million blind children below 15
of age.
§Cataract, Glaucoma, Age-related Macular Degeneration, Trachoma,
Corneal Opacities, Diabetic Retinopathy and eye conditions in children are the
leadingcauses
of blindness in most regions — all of which are potentially preventable/treatable.
§Over
90%
of the blind live in developing countries.
Of every ten blind people, seven
live in Asia and two in Africa. Six of the ten can be cured by cataract surgery and a further three
could be prevented from going blind if eye care services were readily available.
§Blindness is therefore mainly a problem of developing countries,
but a problem, which could be avoided in up to 80% of the cases.
