A global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness.

Population-based studies in various countries’ have shown causes of blindness worldwide to be as follows: 16 million are blind from cataract that has not been operated on; 5.6 million are blind, or nearly so, from trachoma; at least 5.2 million are blind as a result of glaucoma; approximately 1.5 million children are blind, mainly from xerophthalmia; 290,000 people in Africa are blind from onchocerciasis, or “river blindness”; and some 10 million people are blind because of chronic metabolic and degenerative disorders, including diabetes. Overall, the data show that more than 90% of all blind people live in developing countries and that more than two thirds of all blindness is avoidable (either preventable or curable). Unfortunately, little data are available on the incidence of blindness around the world; it seems probable, however, that there are some 7 million new cases of blindness each