More than 1 billion people around the world are living with preventable vision impairment because they do not access critical eye care for conditions like myopia and hyperopia, according to the first World report on vision issued by the World Health Organization.
The report, launched ahead of the World Sight Day on 10 October, attributed the high number of vision impairments to old age, bad lifestyles and limited access to eye care, particularly in low and middle-income countries.
The report further states that at least 2.2 billion people either suffer vision impairment or blindness.
“Eye conditions and vision impairment are widespread, and far too often they still go untreated,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
“People who need eye care must be able to receive quality interventions without suffering financial hardship. Including eye care in national health plans and essential packages of care is an important part of every country’s journey towards universal health coverage.”
The W.H.O. report indicates that low and middle-income regions of western and eastern sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia have rates of blindness that are eight times higher than in all high-income countries.
The agency says some US$ 14.3 billion is needed to address the backlog of 1 billion people living with vision impairment or blindness due to short and far sightedness, and cataracts.
World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness which aims to rally for global attention on blindness and vision impairment.
