Neighborhood Deprivation and Eye Diseases.

Geographical variation in health is one of the key domains of epidemiological investigations. The role of neighbourhood or community level factors in health and disease is a growing area of study, as the physical and social environment in which a person lives and works can affect their health, even after accounting for individual risk factors. 1 The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) endorsement of the Rio Declaration has recently refocused political will to improve public health and reduce health inequalities through action on social determinants of health.2 Action requires understanding the status of health inequalities, causal risk factors and their impact, and evidence based interventions. Epidemiological studies on neighbourhood risk factors are important to public health and policy because they help us to understand and address health inequalities, and lead to development of potential interventions.