Visual impairment and blindness

Key facts

• 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision.
• About 90% of the world's visually impaired live in low-income settings.
• 82% of people living with blindness are aged 50 and above.
• Globally, uncorrected refractive errors are the main cause of moderate and severe visual impairment; cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness in middle- and low-income countries.
• The number of people visually impaired from infectious diseases has reduced in the last 20 years according to global estimates work.
• 80% of all visual impairment can be prevented or cured. 

Definitions

There are 4 levels of visual function, according to the International Classification of Diseases -10 (Update and Revision 2006):

1. normal vision
2. moderate visual impairment
3. severe visual impairment
4. blindness.

Moderate visual impairment combined with severe visual impairment are grouped under the term “low vision”: low vision taken together with blindness represents all visual impairment.

The causes of visual impairment
Globally the major causes of visual impairment are:

• uncorrected refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia or astigmatism) 43 %
• unoperated cataract, 33%
• glaucoma, 2%.

Who is at risk?
Approximately 90% of visually impaired people live in developing countries.

People aged 50 and over
About 65 % of all people who are visually impaired are aged 50 and older, while this age group comprises about 20 % of the world's population. With an increasing elderly population in many countries, more people will be at risk of visual impairment due to chronic eye diseases and ageing processes.

Children below age 15
An estimated 19 million children are visually impaired. Of these, 12 million children are visually impaired due to refractive errors, a condition that could be easily diagnosed and corrected. 1.4 million are irreversibly blind for the rest of their lives and need visual rehabilitation interventions for a full psychological and personal development.

In general, These projects reach populations who are underserved or who have limited or no access to eye health care services. The program funds high-quality, sustainable projects that deliver eye care services, develop infrastructure, train personnel and/or provide rehabilitation and education in underserved communities.
You could start Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives for your Company in association with us. Such healthcare projects will make CSR contribution targeted, making them simple to execute as turnkey CSR projects. ‘Promoting healthcare’ is an area identified under schedule VII of the Companies Act 2013 that is eligible to receive CSR funding either directly or through an implementing agency that has a track record.

For CSR partnership,
Write to – support@trinitycarefoundation.org  or
Call Dr. Thomas +91 9880394959 or Mr.Binu +91 9880358888

Trinity Care Foundation executed CSR Projects : http://trinitycarefoundation.org/csrprogrammesindia  & https://www.flickr.com/photos/trinitycarefoundation/albums