Retina UK publishes sight loss survey results

Anxiety, stress and loss of confidence are the biggest emotional or psychological impacts of sight loss according to Retina UK.

The charity published findings from its 2019 Sight Loss Survey, which highlighted that 53% of those surveyed said that their sight loss had a severe or very severe impact on their quality of life.

Results showed that the experience of being diagnosed has improved over the past 20 years but only one in five people were told about the support that Retina UK can offer.

Retina UK’s chief executive Tina Houlihan explained that the charity presented its findings during a recent NICE consultation for the gene therapy Voretigene neparvovec, a treatment for inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD). She said: ‘[NICE’s] committee acknowledged that RPE65- mediated IRD is a rare, serious and debilitating condition that severely affects the lives of patients, families and carers.’