Nepal

Blindness in Nepal

Nestled between China and India, Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia with a nationwide blindness prevalence rate of 0.35% — nearly 100,000 of the country’s 29.3 million people suffer from some form of blindness. More than 80% of the blindness in Nepal is either preventable or curable, however, the vast majority of people in Nepal don’t have access to quality, affordable eye care.

According to recent figures, cataracts are the leading cause of preventable blindness in Nepal, accounting for roughly 65% of all reported cases. Retinal diseases account for 9%, and glaucoma accounts for 5%. Moreover, as of 2015, there are only seven ophthalmologists per million people in Nepal and only two optometrists per million people.