Refractive error blindness

Recent data suggest that a large number of people are blind in different pa rts of the world due to high refractive error because they are not using ap propriate refractive correction. Refractive error as a ca use of blindness has been recognized only recently with the increasing use of presenting vis ual acuity for defining blindness. In addition to blindness due to naturall y occurring high refractive error, inadequate refractive correction of apha kia after cataract surgery is also a significant cause of blindness in deve loping countries. Blindness due to refractive error in any population sugge sts that eye care services in general in that population are inadequate sin ce treatment of refractive error is perhaps the simplest and most effective form of eye care. Strategies such as Vision screening programmes need to b e implemented on a large scale to detect individuals suffering from refract ive error blindness. Sufficient numbers of personnel to perform reasonable quality refraction need to be trained in developing countries. Also adequat e infrastructure has to be developed in underserved areas of the world to f acilitate the logistics of providing affordable reasonable-quality spectacl es to individuals suffering from refractive error blindness. Long-term succ ess in reducing refractive error blindness worldwide will require attention to these issues within the context of comprehensive approaches to reduce a ll causes of avoidable blindness.