World Health Organization highlights global cost of refractive error

Uncorrected refractive errors are the leading cause of visual impairment worldwide, according to new statistics released this week by the World Health Organization.

More than 153 million people cannot see properly simply because of a lack spectacles or contact lenses.

Marking yesterday's World Sight Day, WHO released the figures this week to highlight how millions of children are missing educational opportunities and adults are excluded from productive working lives, with severe economic and social consequences.

The health body previously estimated that 161 million people were visually impaired from conditions such as cataract, glaucoma and AMD. Uncorrected ametropia has not been included in these earlier estimates.