Increasing eye care interventions to address vision impairment
Technical Brief
8 March 2023
| Technical document
Overview
Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment. In at least 1 billion of these cases, vision impairment could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed. And of those with unaddressed vision impairment or blindness, 90% live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). There is a strong economic, as well as health, rationale for increasing the coverage of eye care interventions. The annual global productivity losses associated with unaddressed vision impairment are estimated to be US$ 410.7 billion – a figure that far outweighs the cost of addressing the unmet needs of those with vision impairment, estimated at US$ 24.8 billion.
WHO Team
UHC/Life Course EXDGO (UHA)
Editors
World Health Organization
Number of pages
4