Blindness in Africa: Trends

A new study from Naidoo K., S. Resnikoff and co. regarding the blindness prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa:

Br J Ophthalmol. 2020 Mar 30. doi: 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2019-315217.

Prevalence and causes of vision loss in sub-Saharan Africa in 2015: magnitude, temporal trends and projections.

Naidoo K1,2, Kempen JH3,4, Gichuhi S5, Braithwaite T6,7, Casson RJ8,9, Cicinelli MV10, Das A11, Flaxman SR12, Jonas JB13, Keeffe JE14, Leasher J15, Limburg H16, Pesudovs K6,17, Resnikoff S17, Silvester AJ18, Tahhan N2,17, Taylor HR19, Wong TY20, Bourne RRA21; Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study.

So, in short:

  1. it’s getting better in comparison with 2010
  2. Blindness (VA < 3/60 in best eye) is at the level of 1,03%/1,08% (male/female) of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa
  3. moreover, moderate and severe vision impairment (VA <6/18 and >3/60 in best eye) lies at 3,64%/3,84% more!
  4. Which equals to 4,28 million blind persons and 17,36 million more significantly vision impaired.
  5. Cataracts and uncorrected refractive errors (also presbyopia!) are the main enemy.