World Sight Day – October 9th 2014

On World Sight Day the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness aimed to raise public awareness of blindness & vision impairment as major public health issues, influence Governments/Ministers of Heath to participate in and designate funds for national blindness prevention programs, and educate target audiences about blindness prevention.

Did you know:

  • Approximately 285 million people worldwide live with low vision and blindness
  • Of these, 39 million people are blind and 246 million have moderate or severe visual impairment
  • 90% of blind people live in low-income countries
  • Yet 80% of visual impairment is avoidable – i.e. readily treatable and/or preventable
  • Restorations of sight, and blindness prevention strategies are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care
  • The number of people blind from infectious causes has greatly declined in the past 20 years
  • An estimated 19 million children are visually impaired
  • About 65 % of all people who are visually impaired are aged 50 and older, while this age group comprises only 20% of the world’s population
  • Increasing elderly populations in many countries mean that more people will be at risk of age-related visual impairment.

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