World Sight Day..Some facts»

Approximately 284 million people
worldwide live with low vision and
blindness
Of these, 39 million people are blind
and 245 million have low vision
90% of blind people live in low-
income countries
Yet 80% of blindness is
avoidable - i.e. readily treatable
and/or preventable
Restorations of sight, and blindness
prevention strategies are among the
most cost-effective interventions
in health care
The number of people blind from
infectious causes has greatly
reduced in the past 20 years
An estimated 19 million children are
visually impaired
About 65 % of all people who are
visually impaired are aged 50 and
older, while this age group comprises
only 20% of the world's population
Increasing elderly populations in
many countries mean that more
people will be at risk of age-related
visual impairment.