Changing patterns in global blindness: 1988–2008

impairment Changing demography When the Community Eye Health Journal was launched in 1988, the world population was approximately 5.1 billion. Over the last 20 years, it has increased by approximately 30%, reaching 6.7 billion in 2008. During the same period, the world population has also become proportionally older, as the number of people aged 65 years and over has increased by approximately 55%, from 320 million in 1988 to 500 million in 2008. Since the prevalence of visual impairment becomes higher as people age, this combination of an increasing population and an ageing population is expected to cause a signifi cant increase in the total number of blind people.1