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Facts about Blind and Partially Sighted People

In the United Kingdom, two million people are registered blind or partially sighted, of whom:

• 4% have no light perception
• 10% can see hand movements
• 86% have good residual vision in ideal conditions
• 75% use large print daily.

Plus in 2000-2001, 237,507 cataract operations were performed.

People within this group are rarely registered, but often can see less than a registered person.

• 36,000 people are registered as VIP each year in the UK
• Overall, one person in sixty is visually impaired; one in four over the age of 70
• Already there are 18,000,000 people over 50
• By the year 2011, there will be 4,803,000 people of 75 and over
• Many people are afraid to admit to impaired sight and rely on their memories
• Worldwide, 150M people with significant visual disability (i.e. partially sighted) of whom 38M are blind
• The world health Organisation forecast pre-1993 that within twenty-five years, the number of visually impaired people will double 'unless something dramatic is done' regarding preventable and treatable blindness

A National Survey of Books for (all) Impaired People has yet to be done: five subjects are largely missing for loan or purchase in Braille or large print: ecumenical prayers, theology, spirituality, Christian ethics and comparative religions and Lent books. The Church encourages vocations from visually impaired people to offer themselves for the ordained ministry, but finding the study books in a user-friendly format may involve a miracle or two.

The following are affected by vision loss and holding heavy large print books:

Visually Impaired People    2 million

Arthritics                             8 million

Multiple Sclerosis Sufferers 80-100,000

Diabetics                             1.4 million (There are two types - of those                                                   with type two, 18% suffer vision loss)

Stroke Victims

Muscular Dystrophy Sufferers

Burns Victims

AIDS Victims

Amputees

The Frail and Elderly

Leprosy Sufferers

Osteoporosis Sufferers

The police Traffic Survey (1991) estimated that 3.5 million drivers have a sight defect from 32 million Licence holders.

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