A total of 331,700 people in Ghana representing 1.07 per cent of the population, had significant vision impairment.
Another 229,400 persons representing 0.74 per cent of the country's population, are entirely blind according to Dr Hornametor Afake, head of the National Eyecare Unit, Institutional Care Division of the Ghana Health Service (GHS).
Approximately 0.79 per cent of the rural population and 0.67 per cent of the urban population both have a greater prevalence of blindness.
Dr Afake continued by saying that 155,992 people, or 67.74 per cent of the blind population, resided in places with little to no access to high-quality eye care.
At a press conference held last Thursday in Accra as part of events honouring World Sight Day 2022 with the theme "Love your eyes," the head of the eyecare unit disclosed this information.
54.8 per cent, or 126,170 individuals, of the blind population, were affected by cataracts; glaucoma affected 44,503 individuals or 19.4 per cent; the posterior segment affected 12.9% of the blind population, or 29,822 individuals, and cornea opacity affected 11.2 per cent of the blind population, or 25,234 individuals.
Refractive error accounted for 44.4% of the cases, or 145,948 persons, among the 1.07 per cent who had significant vision impairment, while cataracts accounted for 42.2% of the cases, or 139,314.
In addition to refractive error correction with glasses or surgery, Dr Afake cited initiatives by his organization such as promotion, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation. He also suggested cataract surgery.
He said that in order to improve cataract procedures, particularly for the underprivileged, the GHS established a nationwide cataract outreach programme (NCOP) in 2018 in collaboration with partners.
The Himalayan Cataract Project, according to Dr Afake, provides consumables, equipment, and other necessary supplies to perform nearly 46,000 cataract operations on outreach outposts.
He noted that as of the first half of 2022, the surgical outreach program's eye care section has organized nearly 7,000 procedures.
Dr Afake estimated that at least 2.2 billion individuals worldwide had a near- or distance-vision impairment and that untreated vision problems also led to $411 billion in lost productivity.