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AAO working to raise awareness of preventable blindness

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SAN FRANCISCO — October is World Blindness Awareness Month, and various eye care organizations and associations are joining forces to focus attention on the enormity of the problem, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

The World Health Organization has predicted 100 million people will lose their sight unnecessarily by 2020. Additionally, 80% of blindness can be prevented or cured through cost-effective means, AAO notes in a press release.

Cataract is responsible for close to 50% of global blindness, according to AAO. Other leading causes of blindness and vision loss include trachoma, which affects almost 5.6 million people; onchocerciasis, which has blinded more than 270,000 people; and pediatric blindness caused by vitamin A deficiency, which affects more than 1.5 million.