Rev Bras Oftalmol.2021;80(1):05-07
Glaucoma, collective health and social impact
DOI: 10.5935/0034-7280.20210001
Visual disability and blindness have significant individual repercussions, since vision is the prevalent sense used by humans at all life stages. (–) The impact of these conditions on individuals’ families, caregivers, health systems and, finally, on society as a whole, is also significant. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is estimated that more than 2 billion individuals worldwide have some visual disability type and that at least 1 billion of these cases could have been prevented. () Most visual disability and blindness cases affect individuals older than 50 years. ()
The Global Burden of Disease study conducted by WHO (2017) has identified visual disability as the 3rd main cause of long-term disabilities experienced by individuals. The social repercussions of visual disability comprise impact on the jobs, quality of life and care needs of the disabled ones. In addition, such repercussions encompass significant economic impact caused by direct medical, non-medical and indirect costs. ()
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