Rapid assessment of avoidable blindness in Papua New Guinea: a nationwide survey

Objective To estimate the prevalence and main causes of blindness and vision impairment in people aged 50 years and older in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Design National cross-sectional population-based survey in National Capital District (NCD), Highlands, Coastal and Islands regions. Methods Adults aged 50 years and above were recruited from 100 randomly selected clusters. Each participant underwent monocular presenting and pinhole visual acuity (VA) assessment and lens examination. Those with pinhole VA Results A total of 4818 adults were examined. The age-adjusted and sex-adjusted prevalence of blindness (VA  Conclusions PNG has one of the highest reported prevalence of blindness globally. Cataract and uncorrected refractive error are the main causes, suggesting a need for increased accessible services with improved resources and advocacy for enhancing eye health literacy.