Avoidable Distance Vision Impairment Costs $269 Billion In Lost Productivity

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2nd June 2009, 09:00pm - Views: 739





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Avoidable Distance Vision Impairment Costs $269 Billion in Lost Productivity


SYDNEY, June 2/Medianet International-AsiaNet/ --


 

   A study published in the latest edition of Bulletin of the World Health

Organization (June 2009) estimates the global economy loses $269 billion1  in

productivity annually due to vision impairment. 


   The authors from Johns Hopkins University, the International Centre for

Eyecare Education (ICEE), University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the African

Vision Research Institute (AVRI) University of KwaZulu-Natal, say the problem

could be eliminated simply, and very cost-effectively, by an eye examination

and a pair of spectacles. 


   Of the 158.1 million worldwide with vision impairment resulting from

uncorrected refractive error, 8.7 million are avoidably blind. 


   It is estimated the cost of correcting the vision of 158 million people with

distance vision impairment would be far less than the lost productivity

(including training the eye care personnel and creating the infrastructure for

delivery and affordable spectacle supply). 


   Based on US costs, spectacles would be $26 billion over three years - around

one tenth of the annual lost productivity. However, initiatives like the ICEE

affordable spectacle programme, which provides eye care in developing

communities, would require only $4 billion for the eye examinations and

spectacles needed (including the costs of training the necessary eye care

personnel).


   The research creates a range of possible productivity gains using different

assumptions. The productivity gain is greatest - $428 billion - when it is

assumed that people in unpaid roles (e.g. home duties, subsistence farming)

also make a measurable contribution to the world economy. 


   CEO of ICEE, Professor Brien Holden said, “158 million people are vision

impaired because of uncorrected refractive error (URE) – which is correctable.

The Western Pacific region, which includes China and Vietnam, has the highest

estimated number of cases of URE at 62 million and is responsible for almost

half the potential loss of productivity. The South East Asia region,

encompassing Bangladesh, India and Nepal, has 48.7 million cases. Apart from

the moral obligation, this research indicates that there is a tremendous loss

of human potential with avoidable blindness and impaired vision due to URE. ” 


   “Failing to act to eliminate avoidable blindness not only severely impacts

on the lives of individuals, families and communities, but also creates this

current significant economic burden on the global economy,” he added.


   “We have understood for some time that vision impairment has a direct link

to poverty. This study led by Smith and Frick’s rigorous financial modelling,

and based on ICEE researchers’ field knowledge, adds further weight to the need

to act urgently. I call on the developed world to commit to providing the

financial support to allow this solution to proceed,” Professor Holden said. 


   Head of the AVRI and Programmes Director for ICEE, Professor Kovin Naidoo,

said, “The great tragedy for people blind or vision impaired due to URE is that

Community Health International Centre For Eyecare Education 2 image

we have the solution and the resources to correct their vision. This study

covered only URE for distance vision and does not account for costs associated

with people affected by URE at near. Our recent work indicates that in addition

to these estimates there is further productivity loss associated with the 517

million people affected by uncorrected presbyopia, 94% of who live in the

developing world”. 


   EDITORS NOTES: 


   The study paper is online:  



   Authors: TST Smith, KD Frick, BA Holden, TR Fricke & KS Naidoo. TST Smith

was supported by an award from the US-UK Fulbright Commission; BA Holden and TR

Fricke were both supported by a Blindness Prevention Grant from the Institute

for Eye Research, Australia.


   URE is the biggest cause of avoidable blindness and vision impairment in the

world and is the simplest of all eye conditions to diagnose and correct. Today,

90% of blindness and vision impairment is in the developing world. 


   1 The international dollar (I) is a hypothetical unit of currency with the

same purchasing power that the U.S. dollar has in the United States at a given

point in time. It shows how much a local currency unit is worth within the

country's borders. Conversions to international dollars are calculated using

purchasing power parities (PPP). If all the dollars were to be spent in the

USA, then I$1 = 1USD.


   For interviews and information contact: 

   Stephanie O’Connell, 

   ICEE: s.oconnell@icee.org  

   Cell: +61 439 600 312


   http://www.aapmedianet.com.au/MNJ/Release.aspx?R=615214&K=7156437


   SOURCE: International Centre for Eyecare Education



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