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Statistics for the blind - World Health Organization

 

 

 

  • 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision.

  • About 90% of the world's visually impaired live in low-income settings.

  • 82% of people living with blindness are aged 50 and above.

  • Globally, uncorrected refractive errors are the main cause of moderate and severe 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 reduced in the last 20 years according to global estimates work.

  • 80% of all visual impairment can be prevented or cured.

 

There are 4 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 %

  • unoperated cataract, 33%

  • glaucoma, 2%.

 

 

More information can be found here: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/

 

 

 

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