Allied Health Professions: New policies and strategies addressing the global burden of eye diseases

Prof Rupert Bourne

ARU research on global changes in the burden, causes, and risk factors of eye disease over time has helped reduce the risk of preventable blindness and vision impairment for millions of people around the world.

The findings of Prof Bourne, from the Vision and Eye Research Institute (VERI), and national and international collaborators from the Vision Loss Expert Group (VLEG) have raised awareness of the prevalence of eye diseases globally.

As a result, international organisations and charities, and national governments have made eye health policies and/or investment decisions.

Headshot of Rupert Bourne. He has short, light brown hair and is wearing a dark blue suit jacket, white shirt, and light blue tie.

Prof Rupert Bourne

Rupert is Professor of Ophthalmology at ARU. He is also a Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at Cambridge University Hospitals and Director of Cambridge Eye Research Centre.

Find out more about Prof Rupert Bourne Explore ARU researchers' original work via our open access repository, ARRO

Research summary

The WHO has estimated that globally at least 2.2 billion people have vision impairment or blindness, causing a great deal of unnecessary suffering.

Prior to this research, however, there was a lack of comprehensive data on the burden of eye diseases, making it impossible to draw comparisons between countries and plan and allocate resources effectively.

Prof Bourne leads the VLEG, a global network of ophthalmic epidemiologists which was established in 2007. It advises and supports the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBED), and was developed to improve estimates for blindness and vision impairment worldwide.

Fifteen years on, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) – the principal global lobby group of eye health – and the WHO consider the VLEG to have the most comprehensive data on global blindness and vision impairment.

The study has made it possible to compare data across countries, taking into account years lived with disability (YLDs) and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). It has also led the way in analysing change over time in the causes of the burden of blindness and vision impairment, and captured important risk factors such as gender inequality.

The VLEG initially prepared global estimates of the burden of eye diseases for 2010 and 2015 by analysing 288 existing studies, covering 4 million participants from 98 countries. It then extended the study to 2019, drawing in additional sources of microdata and covering a wider range of causes, severities and conditions.

The study found that the overall prevalence of vision loss has decreased over the last 25 years. However, the actual number of people living with blindness and vision impairment has increased, and the majority of vision loss occurs in women.

Furthermore, future projections for the next 30 years indicate that that the number of people affected by vision loss will rise dramatically. This is due to the global rise in ageing populations.

The study also found that over 80% of the burden of vision impairment is avoidable or treatable, and a billion people worldwide are affected by near vision impairment (presbyopia). This is principally due to cataracts, with other eye conditions such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy also having a significant impact.

Human eye seen sideways on

Summary of the impact

  • Raised awareness of the prevalence of eye diseases globally
  • Influenced eye-health policies and/or investment decisions by the WHO, UN, governments of Australia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and the UK, and international charities
  • Informed protocol for large population-based surveys on eye health
  • Benefitted millions of individuals at risk of preventable eye diseases

Impact

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

We have mapped our REF 2021 impact case studies against the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 17 SDGs, adopted by all UN Member States in 2015, are an urgent call for action. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.

This case study is mapped to SDG 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development, target 17.6.

See also

Read the full REF 2021 impact case study for UoA 03: New policies and strategies addressing the global burden of eye diseases (PDF)

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