Reducing the occurrence of glaucoma poses a challenge around the world, with nearly 8 million people bilaterally blind from the disease. That number is estimated to increase over the next 10 years as the population ages.
“The actual prevalence of the disease is rising not because the incidence is rising, but because the population at risk is increasing,” Harry A. Quigley, MD, of Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said. “For example, in China, the proportion of people who are of the age to get glaucoma is expanding dramatically. In India, in South Asia, it’s expanding dramatically. People are living longer. It isn’t that the disease is becoming more common, it’s that the people who get it are becoming more common.”
Glaucoma is the No. 2 cause of blindness in the world, behind only cataracts. However, glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness. An estimated 8.4 million people worldwide will be bilaterally blind from glaucoma in 2010. By 2020, that number is estimated to rise to 11.1 million.
The key to preventing blindness from glaucoma is effective diagnosis and treatment for at-risk patients in developed and developing countries. But treating the disease is a challenge in some areas, including China, India and Africa, where patients are often undiagnosed or do not have access to care or affordable care.
