Global cost of correcting vision impairment from uncorrected refractive error
TR Fricke, BA Holden, DA Wilson, G Schlenther, KS Naidoo, S Resnikoff & KD Frick
Volume 90, Number 10, October 2012, 728-738
Table 3. Distance and near vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive error (URE) and number of functional clinical refractionists,a worldwide, 2006–2010
| WHO region and subregionb | Population (millions) | Estimated no. of people aged over 5 years with distance vision impairment due to URE (thousands) | Estimated no. of people aged over 5 years with near vision impairment due to URE (thousands) | Estimated total no. of cases of vision impairment due to UREc (thousands) | No. of existing functional clinical refractionists | No. of additional functional clinical refractionists required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| African Region | ||||||
| D | 346 | 2 976 | 29 272 | 32 248 | 2 605 | 4 348 |
| E | 408 | 3 326 | 34 892 | 38 218 | 2 380 | 5 790 |
| Total | 754 | 6 301 | 64 165 | 70 466 | 4 985 | 10 138 |
| Region of the Americas | ||||||
| A | 346 | 6 278 | 18 681 | 24 959 | 18 901 | 0 |
| B | 474 | 6 504 | 51 241 | 57 745 | 5 565 | 4 906 |
| D | 79 | 1 018 | 6 732 | 7 750 | 442 | 1 131 |
| Total | 898 | 13 800 | 76 654 | 90 454 | 24 908 | 6 038 |
| Eastern Mediterranean Region | ||||||
| B | 151 | 1 631 | 12 615 | 14 246 | 4 949 | 516 |
| D | 409 | 4 220 | 32 607 | 36 827 | 4 164 | 4 024 |
| Total | 561 | 5 852 | 45 222 | 51 074 | 9 113 | 4 540 |
| European Region | ||||||
| A | 423 | 8 338 | 6 106 | 14 444 | 43 307 | 16 |
| B | 216 | 3 049 | 17 222 | 20 271 | 4 653 | 776 |
| C | 230 | 3 702 | 4 510 | 8 211 | 3 610 | 1 314 |
| Total | 868 | 15 088 | 27 838 | 42 926 | 51 570 | 2 106 |
| South-East Asia Region | ||||||
| B | 321 | 4 863 | 30 411 | 35 274 | 2 246 | 4 168 |
| D | 1 383 | 49 684 | 111 219 | 160 903 | 10 169 | 17 483 |
| Total | 1 703 | 54 547 | 141 630 | 196 178 | 12 415 | 21 651 |
| Western Pacific Region | ||||||
| A | 157 | 1 415 | 6 756 | 8 171 | 19 849 | 0 |
| B | 1 604 | 60 482 | 176 553 | 237 035 | 37 707 | 1 560 |
| Total | 1 761 | 61 897 | 183 309 | 245 206 | 57 556 | 1 560 |
| Unassigned | 57 | 607 | 5 636 | 6 243 | 6 515 | 171 |
| Global total | 6 602 | 158 092 | 544 454 | 702 546 | 167 013 | 46 204 |
WHO, World Health Organization.
a A functional clinical refractionist is a person who spends 100% of his or her clinical time providing refraction services.
b World Health Organization subregion categories: A: very low child mortality and very low adult mortality; B: low child mortality and low adult mortality; C: low child mortality and high adult mortality; D: high child mortality and high adult mortality; and E: high child mortality and very high adult mortality.
c The number of cases is reported, as some individuals had both distance and near vision impairment due to URE.