Scientists: by 2050 the world will be three times more blind
Now there are 36 million blind people, by 2050 this figure could reach 115 million people.
This is the conclusion reached by the authors of a study published in the Lancet.
Mainly loss of vision threatens the elderly.
The highest percentage of blind in the countries of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Currently, the number of people with visual impairments is decreasing. But as the world population steadily increasing, and the population is aging, scientists predict that the number of people tragically losing his eyesight, will continue to grow.
Analysis of data from 188 countries shows that the world is now more than 200 million people suffer from problems associated with vision impairment.
By 2050, that number will rise to 550 million.
“Even minor vision problems can have a significant impact on human life”, — said one of the authors of the study Professor Rupert Bourne. “This limitation of their independence. For example, they can’t drive a car,” he says.
The study’s authors urge governments to invest more in prevention and treatment of eye diseases such as cataracts.
Blindness on a global scale
- South Asia — 11,7 million people
- East Asia — 6.2 million
- Southeast Asia — 3.5 million
- Sub-Saharan Africa — more than 4% of the population
- Western European countries — 0.5% of the population.