Uncorrected Refractive Error (URE) is a major cause of public health concern. URE not only has an important impact on the physical and mental wellbeing of the people whose lives are affected by this condition, but it creates an economic burden on countries and societies – it was estimated in 2012 that the annual global productivity loss due to uncorrected refractive error is 269 billion international dollars.
This IAPB report looks at the current data on spectacle coverage, in 27 countries where national level data are available. Spectacle coverage is presented for both distance vision and near vision loss due to URE.