Control and prevention of blindness and deafness

In focus

Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health, in conjunction with the World Health Organization, has opened 10 temporary eye clinics across the country to enable cataract operations to be performed.    Funded by a US$ 90 000 donation from the Kuwait Patients' Helping Fund Society, the plan is to carry out 2000 cataract surgeries by the end of the year.  "Visual impairment is treatable but poor people cannot afford it," Peter Graaff, WHO's Representative in...

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Events

Regional workshop on strengthening and integrating the ear and hearing care programme within primary health care and health systems, 18–20 November 2013

The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, in collaboration with the Supreme Council for Health, Qatar, organized a regional workshop on strengthening and integrating the ear and hearing care programme within...

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The regional workshop for integrating and strengthening ear and hearing care within primary health care, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 20-21 December 2011

The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean organized a regional workshop on integrating and strengthening ear and hearing care within primary health care, from 20 to 21 December 2011...

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Statistics and figures

  • Over 23 million people are visually impaired in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, of whom 5 million people are blind
  • 80% of blindness is avoidable (treatable and/or preventable)
  • 90% of blind people live in developing countries
  • About 200 000 children are blind