By ELIZABETH MERABMore by this AuthorThe number of blind people in Kenya has increased even as the government decries the low number of eye specialists. Whereas the World Health Organisation defines blindness as the complete or nearly complete inability to see, it defines being visually impaired as a decreased ability to see to a degree that causes problems not correctable by usual means, such as glasses. Some of the leading causes of chronic blindness include cataract, glaucoma, age-related degeneration, diabetes, trachoma, and eye conditions in children (for instance caused by vitamin A deficiency). Health experts say age-related blindness is increasing throughout the world, as is blindness due to uncontrolled diabetes but little investment is being made to address this. In Kenya for instance, there are only 110 trained ophthalmologists (eye specialists) against a population of more than 40 million.

Source: Daily Nation October 12, 2016 21:11 UTC