Current Events Health Care in Developing Nations

Helping the world see

On Wednesday, Marketplace on NPR ran a story on how providing eye care to individuals in the developing world can not only improve their well-being, but increase economic productivity.  Fortunately, low cost solutions are available.  To view the story, click here.  Some excerpts are below:

“153 million people around the world live with poor vision that could be corrected with glasses. Ninety percent of them live in developing countries. Those with bad vision have problems working and going to school.”

“We know that in many countries we can provide cataract surgical services, say, from $30 to $50 per eye. For glasses, of course, it’s substantially less….And then there’s Vitamin A supplementation, which targets children’s vision. That runs a few cents a capsule”