Women and blindness

Blindness affects 45 million people worldwide, and unless more is done to address this, the figure is set to double over the next 25 years. As ‘Gender’ is the theme of this year’s World Sight Day, on Thursday 8 October, Sightsavers is highlighting the fact that two thirds of people around the world who are blind are women.

The fact that women have a higher life expectancy than men, so there is a larger population of elderly females, goes some way to explaining this disparity. As do the genetic and hormonal differences between the sexes. Women in the developing world also tend to be last in line for medical care.

See below to find out more about the potentially blinding eye conditions that women are particularly susceptible to, and how Sightsavers is working to combat this.

You can also read about the impact of blindness on women, and how Sightsavers helps them regain their independence.

Click here for an audio slideshow about women and blindness.
Click here to hear Mooltetiein's story, as told by Sue Adams, who visited Kenya in July.
You can also watch a video about Lasoi from Kenya here.

Women and cataract