cost of vision loss

Study reveals global cost of vision loss to be nearly $3 trillion dollars

1 June 2010

The global cost of vision loss is estimated to be nearly USD $3 billion dollars ($2,954 billion USD) for the 733 million people living with low vision and blindness worldwide in 2010. These costs are set to rise dramatically through to 2020 unless effective prevention and treatment strategies are adopted worldwide.

Visual impairment imposes a massive burden on health care systems and economies worldwide. Current costs include direct health care expenditure, informal caregiver time, lost productivity, and inefficiencies in raising tax revenue to fund health care.

The study released by AMD Alliance International (AMDAI) is the first ever estimate of the global cost of vision loss.

The study’s recommendations for reducing the burden of disease include:

Frequent screening of people with diabetes, and the elderly who are at risk of retinopathy, macular degeneration and glaucoma.
Increased training in cataract surgery for doctors in developing regions
Greater availability of affordable eye wear to correct refractive error
Funding and distribution of medication to treat river blindness and trachoma in affected areas
Early treatment of childhood eye diseases, including cataract and glaucoma

This is encouraging news for cbm as this study is evidential support for cbm’s work around the world.

cbm supported projects carry out a range of activities which echo AMDAI’s recommendations, including:

cataract surgeries, vision testing and glasses dispersal for vision impaired
dispersal of sight-saving medicine and Vitamin A
prevention and treatment of tropical eye diseases such as trachoma and river blindness
training of health workers and profession medical staff like ophthalmologists and surgeons
public health education, awareness campaigns to raise visibility of debilitating diseases
working to create and better hospital or health facilities in poor countries
support for community based rehabilitation projects
mobility training and life skills for persons with disabilities
mobile eye clinics that reach vision impaired persons living in rural areas

Vision impairment and blindness issues are a pillar of cbm’s work.

REFERENCES

Access Economics, prepared for AMD Alliance International, The Global Economic Cost of Visual Impairment, March 2010 (all costs are reported in 2008 US dollars) http://www.amdalliance.org/cost-of-blindness.html


Blindness	Orthopaedics	Deafness	Community	Emergencies	Rehabilitation

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