Make Vision Count – WSD 17

Where there is no vision, people perish.  As the world celebrates this year’s World Sight Day, there is a global call for Individuals, Nations, Stakeholders to make vision count. Our world depends on it. The burden of visual impairment and blindness is devastating; it impoverishes people and affects the economic progress of Nations.

Visual Impairment has become a Global Health Challenge.

 Before we go right over to see the figures one nation at a time, let’s get some basic understanding of certain visual terms.

Visual impairment or low vision is a severe reduction in vision that cannot be corrected with standard glasses or contact lenses and reduces a person’s ability to function at certain or all tasks. it could be Mild impairment or Moderate to Severe Visual impairment (MSVI)

Blindness is a lack of vision. It may also refer to a loss of vision that cannot be corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Partial blindness means very limited vision. Complete blindness means light cannot be perceived. Legal Blindness means the level of vision loss that has been legally defined as blindness, varies from Country to Country

The figures

>begins with the Selected Countries

>Population @2015 and projected 2020 

>number of people with Moderate Visual Impairment @2015 and projected 2020

>number of people with Moderate to Severe Visual Impairment @2015 and projected 2020

>number of blind people @2015 and projected 2020

Key facts

Globally,

• 36 million people  are blind
• 217 million people with moderate or severe distance vision impairment
• Of those with blindness and MSVI, 124 million people have uncorrected refractive errors and 65 million have cataract—more than 75% of all blindness and MSVI is avoidable
• 253 million people blind or vision impaired (in 2015)
• 1 billion people with near-vision impairment (Presbyopia)
• The prevalence of blindness and vision impairment combined has dropped from 4.58% in 1990 to 3.37% in 2015.
• 89% of visually impaired people live in low and middle-income countries
• 55% of moderate or severely vision impaired people are women

How can we make vision Count?

1. Ensure you preserve and protect your eyes
2. Do yearly eye examination
3. Spread this message to family, friends and colleagues
4. Join hands to influence your government – Local, State and Federal to make vision count using your country data
5. Encourage more funding of National Blindness Prevention Programmes in your Country

HAPPY WORLD SIGHT DAY 2017

LET’S MAKE VISION COUNT

Figures obtained from the 2017 IAPB Vision Atlas

Featured Photo courtesy: Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand, from the WSD “Stronger Together” Photo competition.

If you wish to get data for your Country and it is not listed, please leave a comment below and we would send it to you.

Cheers to your Eye Health

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