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Did You Know?

Facts about Worldwide Blindness

Blindness has an enormous personal, social & economic cost, limiting the education & life choices of otherwise healthy people, & placing a significant weight on family, community, social & health services.

• Every 5 seconds one person in our world goes blind
• A child goes blind every minute
• 90% of the blind live in the poorest parts of the developing world
• More than 82% of all blind people are at least 50 years old
• 75% of blindness is treatable &/or preventable
• 1.4 million children under the age of 15 are blind
• An estimated 37 million people worldwide are blind & 124 million have low vision
• There are at least 11.6 million blind people in the South East Asia Region, 9.3 million in the Western Pacific Region & 6.8 million in Africa
• Without proper intervention the number of blind will increase to 75 million by 2020

Download the “Worldwide Blindness Factsheet” (PDF)

Facts about Persons with Disabilities

Overview

• Approximately 10% of the world’s population, or 650 million people, live with a disability
• 20% of the world’s poorest people are disabled, & are regarded in their own communities as the most disadvantaged
• Mortality for children with disabilities may be as high as 80% in some countries
• 90% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school
• 80% of persons with disabilities live in developing countries

Women & Children

• Women with disabilities are recognized to be multiply disadvantaged, experiencing exclusion on account of their gender & their disability
• In most developing countries, women report higher incidents of disability than men
• Women & girls with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to abuse

Violence

• For every child killed in warfare, three are injured & permanently disabled
• In some countries, up to a quarter of disabilities result from injuries & violence
• Persons with disabilities are more likely to be victims of violence or rape, & less likely to obtain police intervention, legal protection or preventive care
• Violence against children with disabilities occurs at annual rates at least 1.7 times greater than for their non-disabled peers

Download the “Persons with Disabilities Factsheet” (PDF)
 

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