Six facts you may not know about gender and blindness
- Women make up 55% of the world’s visually impaired, that is around 609 million women.
- Women are 12% more likely to develop some form of visual impairment and have 8% higher chances of becoming entirely blind compared to men. As women’s life expectancies are longer, they are more likely to develop age-related eye problems such as cataracts, glaucoma and presbyopia.
- Historically, men in Nepal older than 75 years old are 70% more likely to receive treatment for their cataracts than women older than 75.
- Women in low-income countries are less likely to receive treatment for eye problems because of cultural and socio-economic barriers. In many families in lower income nations, womens health is simply not prioritised to the same level as mens or childrens. Responsibilities that women bear in the home often result in little left over time to learn about or access health services.
- The most disadvantaged groups are illiterate women in rural areas. The inverse care law – those in greatest need and most disadvantaged typically have the least access to good quality services – theory applies to cataract treatment amongst disadvantaged people.
- A 1995 study in Malawi showed that widowed or divorced women were more likely to receive cataract surgery than a married woman. The probability of surgery for a woman went up when a grown child or sibling, rather than a husband, was assisting them in getting treatment.