Ten years to VISION 2020: how are we doing?

We have just passed the halfway mark for the VISION 2020 global initiative, which was launched in 1999 with the goal to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. This is a good time to take stock of what we have achieved and what still needs to be done. The success of VISION 2020 has to be judged against its impact on reducing levels of avoidable blindness in the world. Although still to be finally approved by WHO, some preliminary data on the global prevalence of blindness and visual impairment was presented in a meeting between WHO and IAPB members in October 2010. It suggests a decline of approximately 10% in the overall number of blind and visually impaired. Compared to the 314 million people with visual impairment (≤6/18) from WHO data produced in 2004, the new figures suggest a total of 285 million. Overall, this is a decrease of nearly 29 million. The number of blind people (≤3/60, presenting vision) has fallen from an estimated 45 million to 39.8 million. If these figures are confirmed, and if we take into account that, over the same period, there has been an 18% increase in the population of those aged 50 years and older worldwide, then we have some cause for optimism. We also know that: