FOCUS ON LOW VISION

Numbers You Need to Know

Revealing statistics paint the picture of the state of low vision today

back in the early ’90s, EB first referred to low vision as the most underserved category in optical. It’s 20 years later, but little has changed—except that the number of patients needing help has increased as the population has aged.

The same is true around the world. Patients are not being seen at all or are being told that “nothing can be done.” True, they can’t be cured, but from daily living aids and low vision devices to sophisticated spectacle solutions, there is a lot that “can be done” to, at the very least, improve quality of life.

Between 2013 and 2050, the prevalence of vision loss in the U.S. will grow by 135%

STARTLING STATS

Here’s a look at some of the numbers that paint the challenging picture of low vision patients in the U.S. and around the world.

$2.7 trillion

For each legally blind person (nearly 40 million worldwide), another 2.5 individuals on average cease work or education to care for vision-impaired relatives. According to the World Health Organization, that results in a loss of productivity totaling $2.7 trillion annually.

150,000

More than 24 million Americans have experienced cataracts. Fortunately, most receive care. In other countries, that’s not true. Here’s just one example: The 2014 Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness reports that in Madagascar, an island country off the coast of Africa, there is a backlog of over 150,000 people who are blind from cataracts.

40%

Everybody knows some of the health risks associated with smoking. Here’s one you may not know: According to the surgeon general, smokers are 30%-40% more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers, dramatically increasing the likelihood of diabetic retinopathy.

135%

Between 2013 and 2050, reports Prevent Blindness, “the prevalence of vision loss in the U.S. will grow by 135%...with the total real costs of vision problems expected to increase by 157%.”

What can you do about these numbing numbers? At the very least, refer patients with uncorrectable vision problems to a low vision specialist.

Better yet, also consider participating in some of the extraordinary missions conducted around the world, including missions serving underserved populations in rural areas of the U.S.

—Grace Hewlett