138: International childhood blindness

Abstract

The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 1.4 million children in the world are blind, and half of these cases are potentially preventable. The causes of pediatric blindness vary by region and by socioeconomic status. In high-income countries, retinopathy of prematurity, cortical visual impairment, and optic nerve hypoplasia predominate. In low-income countries, corneal scarring from measles, vitamin A deficiency, the use of harmful traditional eye remedies, ophthalmia neonatorum, and infectious keratitis predominate and are potentially preventable causes of blindness.