- There are an estimated 45 million blind people and 135 million visually impaired people worldwide
- An estimated 1.4 million children are blind, 320,000 of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa
- The global financial cost of childhood blindness is thought to be between $6 billion and $27 billion dollars
- Worldwide, up to 70% of childhood blindness may be preventable
- An estimated 3.1% of deaths worldwide are directly or indirectly due to cataract, glaucoma, trachoma and onchocerciasis
- In developing countries, it is believed that 60-80% of children who become blind die within 1-2 years
Source: “Unite for Sight, Inc. – Global Eye Health Statistics”. Jan 4, 2012. http://www.uniteforsight.org/eye_stats.php