According to a research, the majority of such cases was seen in Uva province.

Vision2020 says that Sri Lanka has a population of 20 million and around 200,000 people are believed to be blind. The majority of them are blind due to cataracts, they say.

1/2 of world population

Meanwhile, research has revealed that one in ten humans could become blind by 2050, with a half of the world’s population predicted to be short-sighted (myopic), scientists say, pointing out that people must take immediate measures to stop the spread of myopia.

Having analyzed vast amounts of international data on myopia, researchers from Brien Holden Vision Institute, at the University of New South Wales Australia and Singapore Eye Research Institute found the drastic growth of people suffering from shortsightedness since 2000.

Based on the revealed trend the research team predicted further increase of the number of short-sighted people – up to about five million of a half of world’s population by 2050, says the study published in the Ophthalmology journal.