Global study reveals burden of vision loss

Successful treatment of blinding eye conditions has led to a lower prevalence of eye diseases than might be expected given the growth in population worldwide.

The finding is among the results of the largest review ever undertaken into global vision impairment and blindness, led by Professor Rupert Bourne of Anglia Ruskin University's Vision and Eye Research Unit in collaboration with 79 ophthalmologists and optometrists.

The review forms part of the Global Burden of Disease Study, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and published in a special issue of The Lancet (December 13). The study shows that, since 1970, men and women worldwide have gained more than 10 years of life expectancy but now spend more years living with injury and illness.