TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Disabling Visual Disorders A1 - Oh, Dawn M. A1 - Oh, Kean T. A2 - Wallace, Robert B. PY - 2017 T2 - Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health and Preventive Medicine, 15e AB - Although the prevalence of blindness worldwide is not precisely known, new global estimates from 2002 World Health Organization (WHO) show at least 37 million people are blind and another 124 million people have low vision. This figure is based on the standard international definition of blindness: a visual acuity (VA) of less than 3/60 or corresponding visual field loss in the better eye with best possible correction, and a VA of <6/18 (but greater than 3/60 or a field loss of less than 20%) constituting “low vision.” Because of the essential nature of vision for most endeavors, the frequency of blindness also reflects a global loss in disability-adjusted life years, and is considered by WHO to be a key barrier to development worldwide. The causes of blindness and visual loss, most preventable through primary intervention or secondary therapy, include a small core of major diseases including: cataract (47.8%), glaucoma (12.3%), diabetic retinopathy (4.8%), macular degeneration (8.7%), trachoma (3.6%), onchocerciasis (0.8%), and corneal opacities (5.1%) (Fig. 68-1). However the fraction of the blindness burden for each disease differs substantially from region to region (Fig. 68-2). SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Medical CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/04/19 UR - accessbiomedicalscience.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1141961527 ER -