To monitor changes over time in the incidence of blindness among peopl
e with diabetes, referrals (mentioning diabetes) to all vision rehabil
itation centres in Stockholm County (1995 population 1 725 756) during
1981-1995 were registered. A mass mailing to people with diabetes in
1989 urged them to have their eyes examined. Mobile fundus photography
teams initiated early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy in primary he
alth care in 1990. Referrals with diabetes and blindness, defined (WHO
, ICD 10) as best-corrected visual acuity (VA) of the better eye less
than 3/60 (0.05), occurred for 172 persons (7.6 % of those referred wi
th diabetes). During 1981-1985, 93 were referred (95 % confidence inte
rval 75 to 114); 1986-1990, 51 (38 to 67); 1991-1995, 28 (19 to 41). F
ive-year average annual incidence rate of referrals with blindness was
reduced by 47 % from 1.2 to 0.63 to 0.33 per 100 000 population. Mean
yearly reduction during 1981-1995 was 11 % (8 to 15 %), 11.5 % (8 is
15 %) if blindness was defined as in the UK (VA 3/60 or less), and 7 %
(4 to 9 %) for legal blindness (VA 6/60 or less); test for trend p <
0.001 (Poisson regression analysis). This is the first report of reduc
tion in a geographical region of a proxy measure for new blindness in
diabetes by one-third or more, attaining one of the main targets of th
e St Vincent Declaration. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.