EYE HEALTH AT EVERY LIFE STAGE

There are 2.2 billion people worldwide, including 450 million children, who are living with vision impairment. 1.1 billion of these individuals have preventable sight loss because they lack access to the basic eye care services they need, including a simple pair of glasses. Without action, these numbers are set to grow. It is estimated that by 2050 half the global population could be living with a visual impairment. Eye care services in many countries are unable to keep pace with the increasing need associated with demographic, behavioral and lifestyle trends that have led, and will continue to lead, to an increase in the number of non-communicable eye conditions. The WHO World Report on Vision (2019), put forward a set of recommendations, namely making eye care an integral part of Universal Health Coverage and implementing integrated people-centered eye care, to meet the growing need and demand for eye health care, scale up services and tackle inequality that impacts access and outcomes.