OUR WORK IN PALESTINE
In Palestine, 82.4% of blindness and vision impairment in people aged 50 years and older is avoidable.
Although vision loss due to eye diseases is largely avoidable, prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness and vision impairment in Palestine remains a significant challenge.
Cataract and diabetic retinopathy are the leading causes of avoidable blindness and low vision in Palestine among people aged 50 years and over. Refractive error is the leading cause of early vision impairment in this same population.

There are several factors that have contributed to Palestine becoming one of the world’s most challenging settings for the delivery of health care services. These factors include long-lasting and ongoing political unrest, restrictions of movement that make it difficult and some times impossible for those in need to access care, shortages in the eye health workforce, and financial instability in the eye health care system.
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Cataract is the leading cause of blindness among people aged 50 years and over, causing 38.0% of blindness
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Diabetic retinopathy is the second-leading cause of blindness among people aged 50 years and over across Palestine and the leading cause of blindness in Gaza
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One in three Palestinians aged 50 years and over have diabetes and are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy
