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Our
Mission is to
Preserve
Sight...Prevent Blindness
Prevent Blindness Oklahoma continually raises the most money
per capita of any other Prevent Blindness Affiliate.
Many of our fundraising events, such as Flight for
Sight and Swing for Sight, have been successfully adapted by other
affiliates.
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Vision
impairment is one of the most feared disabilities.
Although it is
believed
that half of all blindness can be prevented, the number of
people in America who suffer vision loss continues to increase.
The leading causes of vision
impairment and blindness in the United States are primarily
age-related eye diseases.
The
number of Americans at risk for age-related eye diseases is
increasing as the baby-boomer generation ages. These
conditions, including age-related macular degeneration,
cataract, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, affect more
Americans than ever before. Disturbingly, the number of
Americans with age-related eye disease and the vision impairment
that results is expected to double within the next three
decades. As of the year 2000 census, there were more than 119
million people in the United States in this age group.
Awareness of vision impairment
and its causes is important to all of us.
We must be aware of our own personal risk of vision loss and
take steps to preserve and protect our precious eyesight. Our
communities must be informed so that they may prepare the
treatment and rehabilitation services that will be needed. Most
important, our nation’s leaders must comprehend the scope of eye
problems in our country so that adequate government resources
can be devoted to research, treatment and prevention.
Vision Problems in the U.S.,
now in it’s fourth edition, provides useful estimates of the
prevalence of sight-threatening eye diseases in Americans age 40
and older. This report includes information on the prevalence
of blindness and vision impairment, significant refractive
error, and the four leading eye diseases affecting older
Americans: age-related macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic
retinopathy, and glaucoma.
In
Oklahoma, it is estimated that 44,699 people, age 40 and older
have a visual impairment. There is also an estimated 13,878
cases of blindness in Oklahoma among people age 40 and older.
For a complete report of Vision Problems in the U.S. or
for more specific information on any age-related vision
impairment, please contact Becky Cunningham, Director of
Programs at Prevent Blindness
Oklahoma, 405-848-7123.
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