Global prevalence of age-related macular degeneration

The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 revealed that increasing population sizes, substantial increases in the average age in most world regions, and falling death rates have all led to a transition in the burden of disease towards disorders that cause disability but not substantial mortality.1–4 Age-related macular degeneration is one of these disabling and degenerative diseases, mostly targeting elderly people. In 2010, an estimated 32·4 million people were blind (defined as presenting visual acuity of less than 3/60), and roughly 191 million people had moderate-to-severe vision impairment (defined as presenting visual acuity of less than 6/18 but equal to or better than 3/60).