Closing the gap on eye health in Australia

The National Eye Health Survey Report has been released by the federal government. It involved completing a series of eye tests on around 5000 Australian across 30 geographical areas.

Assistant Minister for Rural Health, Dr David Gillespie, said, “Up-to-date national data on the burden of vision impairment and blindness in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians will continue to inform the Australian Government on future policy directions.

The report found that the main causes of blindness and visual impairment across Australia were uncorrected refractive error, cataract, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

The report highlighted that while the eye health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians was improving, there was work to be done in further closing the gap.

More information about the National Eye Health Survey Report is available on the Vision 2020 Australia website.