New York Times: Improve a Billion Lives With Eyeglasses

HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other deadly diseases are at the forefront of global health crises. This had allowed certain widespread health issues to be overlooked. Poor vision and lack of access to eyeglasses, while not necessarily fatal, afflicts more than a billion people worldwide. Eye exams and eyeglasses can be very expensive, while the resources allotted to improving vision care in the developing world are dwarfed by those targeting contagious diseases. Uncorrected vision costs the global economy more than $200 billion annually in lost productivity. Yet factories in Asia can mass produce prescription and reading eyeglasses at low cost. Nevertheless, Andrew Jacobs details how the lack of eye doctors and eye clinics in the developing world may be the bigger obstacle. He describes people trying on their first pair of glasses and expressing wonder about the clarity of their surroundings. Aside from lost productivity, other potential problems of mass uncorrected vision include high rates of traffic and workplace accidents and decreased employment of older adults. – YaleGlobal