https://en.sputniknews.africa/20261008/africas-vision-crisis-how-can-millions-regain-their-sight-1089784796.html
Africa’s Vision Crisis: How Can Millions Regain Their Sight?
Africa’s Vision Crisis: How Can Millions Regain Their Sight?
Sputnik Africa
Visual impairment is becoming more common across Africa, with cataracts and uncorrected vision problems driving much of the burden and a major review finding... 08.10.2026, Sputnik Africa
2026-10-08T16:19+0200
2026-10-08T16:19+0200
2026-10-08T16:19+0200
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Africa’s Vision Crisis: How Can Millions Regain Their Sight?
Sputnik Africa
Visual impairment is becoming more common across Africa, with cataracts and uncorrected vision problems driving much of the burden and a major review finding that nearly one in 10 people are affected, particularly in rural communities.
Recently, researchers reviewed 91 studies involving more than 340,000 people between 1986 and 2025 to track the scale of vision loss across Africa, publishing their findings in The Lancet Regional Health – Africa. They found that about 1.9 percent of people were blind and that visual impairment became much more common over time, with the odds rising by an estimated 72 percent each decade. Because treatable conditions cause much of this sight loss, the researchers say wider access to cataract surgery, corrective lenses, and better eye-care services could help protect the sight of millions of people, especially in underserved communities.In an insightful interview with African Currents, a member of the research team, Dr. Pious Tawiah Amoako, a Ghanaian optometrist and vision science researcher, explained the factors contributing to Africa’s burden of visual impairment. He called for integrating basic eye care into primary healthcare, training community health workers, and equipping health facilities with diagnostic tools to ensure that screening leads to treatment and follow-up care. For the full perspective and further insights from our guest, tune in to this episode of African Currents, a podcast by Sputnik Africa.Don’t miss an episode — beyond our website, you can also catch our episodes on Telegram.► You can also listen to our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Pocket Casts, Afripods, Podcast Addict.► Check out all the episodes of African Currents.
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Africa’s Vision Crisis: How Can Millions Regain Their Sight?
Visual impairment is becoming more common across Africa, with cataracts and uncorrected vision problems driving much of the burden and a major review finding that nearly one in 10 people are affected, particularly in rural communities.
Recently, researchers reviewed 91 studies involving more than 340,000 people between 1986 and 2025 to track the scale of vision loss across Africa, publishing their findings in The Lancet Regional Health – Africa. They found that about 1.9 percent of people were blind and that visual impairment became much more common over time, with the odds rising by an estimated 72 percent each decade. Because treatable conditions cause much of this sight loss, the researchers say wider access to cataract surgery, corrective lenses, and better eye-care services could help protect the sight of millions of people, especially in underserved communities.
In an insightful interview with African Currents, a member of the research team, Dr. Pious Tawiah Amoako, a Ghanaian optometrist and vision science researcher, explained the factors contributing to Africa’s burden of visual impairment. He called for integrating basic eye care into primary healthcare, training community health workers, and equipping health facilities with diagnostic tools to ensure that screening leads to treatment and follow-up care.
"The [visual impairment] burden is substantial [in Africa]. But we have to be careful about the numbers because Africa still has important gaps in population-based eye health data [...], and what makes these things particularly important is that most of the causes of these visual impairments and blindness are actually correctable, and it makes the situation really sad in Africa. I think the reason why the burden is so high is not simply because Africa has more eye disease, but I think it has to do with access. Do people have access to eye care? Because many of these conditions, as I said, are treatable. But if people don't have access to screening, spectacles, cataract surgeries, glaucoma care, and other eye health care services, then it's going to be very difficult for them to find treatment [...]. Based on our study, cataracts and refractive errors. These are the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness in Africa [...]. We also realized that there are some risk factors, such as aging, genetics, etc. So if your parents have glaucoma, then once they're first-degree relatives, then you are four times more likely to have glaucoma [...]. Secondly, we also found that in rural areas and underserved areas, there is a higher prevalence of visual impairment [...]. I think that we need to incorporate basic vision assessment and refractive services into our primary healthcare system and also into our community health programs," Dr. Amoako said.
For the full perspective and further insights from our guest, tune in to this episode of African Currents, a podcast by Sputnik Africa.
Don’t miss an episode — beyond our website, you can also catch our episodes on
Telegram.► Check out all the episodes of African Currents. 
