Causes of Vision Loss
Cataract or uncorrected refractive errors account for most vision loss.
90% of vision loss is preventable or treatable.
90% of vision loss is preventable or treatable.
For these people, sight can be restored with appropriate spectacles, contact lenses, or refractive surgery.
100 million people people have vision loss from cataract. Of these:
For these people, sight can be restored with cataract surgery.
Rates of vision impairment and blindness due to cataract are higher in women (1.7%) than men (1.4%).
Over 8 million people have vision loss due to AMD. Of these:
For every person that experiences vision impairment and blindness from AMD, there are many more living with early stage AMD who need comprehensive and integrated people centred eye care services to prevent vision loss.
Almost 8 million people have vision loss due to glaucoma. Of these:
For every person that experiences vision impairment and blindness from glaucoma, there are many more living with early stage glaucoma who need comprehensive and integrated people centred eye care services to prevent vision loss.
Over 4 million people have vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy. Of these:
For every person that experiences vision impairment and blindness from diabetic retinopathy, there are many more living with early stage diabetic retinopathy who need comprehensive and integrated people centred eye care services to prevent vision loss.
These include conditions such as:
There are 258 million people with mild vision impairment, of which the cause is unknown due to the limited availability of information.
Also, there is limited information on the causes of vision impairment and blindness for people under 50 years of age. More standardisation and certainty of the causes of vision impairment and blindness would be beneficial in future research.
If distributing/publishing this model’s data, it is obligatory to use the following reference:
Adelson, J., Bourne, R. R. A., Briant, P. S., Flaxman, S., Taylor, H., Jonas, J. B., et al., Causes of blindness and vision impairment in 2020 and trends over 30 years, and prevalence of avoidable blindness in relation to VISION 2020: the Right to Sight: an analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study. Lancet Global Health. 2020. Accessed via the IAPB Vision Atlas (https://www.iapb.org/learn/vision-atlas)
‘Other’ tile: Harry Wood, YWAM, ‘Unknown’ tile: Solomon Gadisa, Light for the World