Sydney, Australia, 3 November 2015: The commonest cause of vision impairment has been overlooked as a cause of disability. A recent publication in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights an important oversight in global eye care.
It was the last paper the esteemed Professor Brien Holden authored before his passing. He was advocating for recognition of the estimated half a billion people in the world suffering vision impairment because they cannot access reading glasses.
People who cannot access spectacles for poor long distance vision, are officially recognized as sufferers of vision impairment according to WHO’s international statistical classification of diseases (ICD) and related health problems. However, those who suffer near vision impairment are not.
Everybody who lives beyond middle age is affected by the eye condition presbyopia. This condition typically causes blurred vision at close range and can be overcome with the use of reading glasses.
“Because it is so common, it has perhaps been overlooked as a cause of disability,” says co-author on the paper, Dr Nina Tahhan of the Brien Holden Vision Institute. “When you don’t have glasses, you are functionally disabled. Whether vision impairment is at close range or distance, the impact on quality of life is the same.”
“Even in countries where literacy is low, spectacles are essential for a range of activities such as sorting grains, weeding, cooking, sewing and caring for children,” explains Professor Kovin Naidoo, Acting CEO of the Brien Holden Vision Institute. “Our goal is to create a world where everyone, everywhere has access to vision correction. Influencing global policy is an important avenue for this. Formal recognition of near vision impairment in the ICD is a critical first step.”
The paper is available at: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/93/10/15-156844.pdf?ua=1
Editor’s Notes
Brien Holden Vision Institute
Brien Holden Vision Institute is a non-profit global scientific, research, innovation, education, licensing and public health social enterprise, investing the revenues from its work in creating scientific solutions and developing and delivering eye care and education programs around the world to provide creative and advanced solutions for the provision of excellent vision for everyone, everywhere.
The Institute’s mission includes developing new vision care technology, especially for refractive error and early disease detection, and by helping to eliminate vision impairment and avoidable blindness, raising the quality of life for all people, reducing disability and poverty for those in need.
The Brien Holden Vision companies are dedicated to bringing excellent, affordable products to market that will improve eye care and generate resources to help the Institute’s mission.