South Africa: Eye health services in the public sector are critically impaired – its high time the health department responds

Avoidable blindness and vision impairment are major global health concerns. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that at least one billion people worldwide have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or treated. In 2020, there were an estimated 11 million people living with some degree of vision loss in South Africa, of which 370,000 were classified as blind.

Avoidable blindness caused by uncorrected refractive error (vision problems that require spectacles or contact…