WHO facts & figures: Extracts from the report by the Secretary to the 56th World Health Assembly on 28 April 2003 

"Globally, an estimated 45 million people are blind and a further 135 million are visually impaired. [...] Projections estimate that these numbers climb to 75 million blind and 200 million visually impaired by the year 2020 unless there is urgent coordinated action."

"The damage to visual health is concentrated in developing countries, which carry an estimated 90% of those affected by blindness and visual impairment, with profound human and socioeconomic consequences. The impact of lost productivity due to blindness [...] has a significant effect on families, communities and nations, particularly those least able to afford such losses."

Efforts by governments and foreign aid organisations understandably concentrate on preventing and curing blindness. However, it is just as essential that the growing number of those who suffer from severe visual impairment or irreversible blindness are taken into account in any action plans for overall development in the developing world. Not only is their (re-)integration into society in general and the labour market in particular critical in the context of human rights but it will also potentially boost the advancement of communities, regions and countries.

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