Public Health Interventions to Reduce the Prevalence of Blindness in Developing Countries

© 2015 Journal of ophthalmic and Vision research | published by Wolters KluWer medKnoW Sir, Blindness has been defined as visual acuity of less than 3/60 in Snellen’s chart or inability to count fingers in daylight at a distance of three meters.[1] In 2010 alone, 285 million people are found to be visually impaired worldwide, of whom close to 90% were from developing nations.[2,3] Visual impairment interferes with ordinary life as a disability, adversely affects quality of life, increases susceptibility to injuries or accidents, negatively impacts productivity and national progress, dramatically increases economic and social costs, and burdens the health care system.[2,4] The epidemiological distribution of visual impairment is dependent on multiple parameters such as age groups, gender, literacy level, and geopolitical zone.[2,5] Approximately two-thirds of visually impaired individuals are aged 50 or over, whereas 19 million children under the age of 15 years have impaired vision.[2,5] Uncorrected refractive errors are the main reason for visual impairment worldwide; however, in middle/low-income countries, the leading cause of blindness is cataract.[6] In addition, conditions such as glaucoma, corneal opacity, childhood blindness, trachoma, and diabetic retinopathy have been identified as significant factors leading to visual impairment.[5,6] Over three fourth of all visual impairment can be prevented or cured provided appropriate prevention strategies like providing refractive services and cataract surgery.[2,3] The number of visually impaired counteract avoidable blindness.visual impairment, integration of eye care Public Health Interventions to Reduce the Prevalence of Blindness in Developing Countries