Sight is the sense with which we perceive our surroundings and their rich colours, shapes and patterns. In the WHO European Region approximately 90 million people have vision impairment or blindness. Eye conditions common in the Region include refractive errors such as myopia, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. Uncorrected refractive errors and cataracts are the leading causes of vision impairment in the Region.
Hearing is the sense with which we perceive the sounds around us, including the voices of people we exchange with. In the European Region approximately 190 million people have hearing loss or deafness. Factors that contribute to hearing loss and deafness in the Region include prenatal infections, birth complications, middle ear infections, exposure to loud noise, medicines that damage the hearing system and age-related changes.
The extent to which vision impairment and hearing loss impact people’s lives depends on whether they are addressed effectively, and the extent to which the environment is suited and responsive to the needs of people with sensory impairments. Vision and hearing interventions are some of the most cost-effective that exist, yet they are too frequently difficult to access and poorly integrated into health services.
The impact of vision and hearing loss is also influenced by other coexisting conditions. Dual sensory loss (deafblindness) affects 0.2–2.0% of the global population. People with deafblindness may feel socially isolated due to communication difficulties and lack of public acceptance, have reduced participation in social events due to mobility challenges and have daily functioning limitations.