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Global causes of blindness shifting from infectious to chronic diseases
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GENEVA, Switzerland — During the past 10 years, chronic diseases have overtaken infectious diseases as the leading causes of blindness worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Successes in treating the infectious causes of blindness, such as trachoma and onchocerciasis, have led to the shift, according to WHO officials.
In 2002, based on world population estimates, more than 161 million people were visually impaired and 37 million were blind, the WHO said in a press release. Ten years ago, diseases such as trachoma and onchocerciasis were among the leading causes of blindness, but today chronic diseases such as diabetes are the leading causes, the WHO said.
Avoidable blindness constitutes about 75% of all blindness, the WHO estimated.
Worldwide, cataract, which is the cause of 47.8% of global blindness, “still poses the major challenge in the effort to eliminate avoidable blindness, particularly in developing countries,” the WHO said in the release. Other age-related conditions such as glaucoma (12.3%), age-related macular degeneration (8.7%) and diabetic retinopathy (4.8%) have also become leading causes of blindness.
The decrease in infectious causes of blindness can be attributed to the integration of eye care into the primary health care system in developing countries, an enhanced worldwide political commitment to the eradication of these diseases, and an “increased professional commitment to and involvement in prevention and control of visual impairment activities,” the WHO said in the release.
According to officials with Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, a collaborative effort between the WHO and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, interventions against cataract still need to be intensified to reach affected but so far unserviced populations.
“Health planners will need to include the means to manage the diseases that are now becoming more prevalent. Glaucoma, AMD and diabetic retinopathy need to be addressed by making available existing as well as new treatment methods and drugs,” the release said.