Global Blindness The Challenge The challenge Globally, it is estimated that approximately 1.3 billion people live with some form of vision impairment. Approximately 80% of all vision impairment is considered avoidable/treatable. Globally, the leading causes of vision impairment are uncorrected refractive errors (the need for glasses) and cataracts. The majority of people with vision impairment are over the age of 50 years. 9/10 blind people live in low socio-economic (developing) countries. Learn more Why is it important to fix our global visual impairment and blindness problem? Low vision can contribute to; Trips and falls leading to hospitalisation Loss of independence and social networks Depression and mental illness Increased nursing home care dependency Delayed cognitive development and language acquisition in children Economic burden on society, families and individuals Increased dependence on social services and mobility