Good vision is essential to a woman’s quality of life and her ability to work, study and care for her family.
Two-thirds of the world’s blind and visually impaired people are women.
Because women have a longer life expectancy than men, they also have a greater burden of eye disease.
No matter where you are, good eye health cannot be ignored. Eye health is an important part of personal well-being, but women face unique challenges that are preventing them from accessing basic eye care services. Widespread inequalities across the globe prevent women from receiving timely and adequate eye care.
Why is women’s eye health so important
Good vision is essential to a woman’s quality of life and her ability to work, study and care for her family. Vision problems can have a serious impact on women at any age. But as women get older, vision problems become more common. An alarming statistic shows that nearly two-thirds of the visually impaired people in the world are women.
The root causes of this disparity are manifold, including that women are living longer, exposing them to more age-related eye diseases such as cataracts, age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma.
For example, a national survey conducted in Nigeria found that the incidence of mild to moderate far-vision impairment was about 30 percent higher in women than in men. In addition, global data show that women have about 7 percent more moderate to severe distant vision impairment than men, even when age differences are taken into account.
Multiple challenges: sociocultural, economic, and healthcare disparities
Women’s eye health is an often underestimated but critical global health challenge that requires urgent attention and concerted efforts worldwide. Despite great strides in healthcare, inequalities persist, resulting in women being affected by a wide range of eye-related conditions and barriers in accessing appropriate care.
Due to traditional and discriminatory gender roles, women often bear the primary responsibility for care, often at the expense of their own health, such as eye health. Social norms and expectations limit their autonomy to seek independent medical care. This, combined with financial constraints caused by low income and the gender pay gap, creates a huge barrier that makes eye exams, treatments and corrective glasses unaffordable for many women.
The challenges women face in accessing eye care
Despite the importance of good eye health, many women still face barriers to accessing eye care, including a lack of awareness of the need for an eye exam, the cost of care, transportation difficulties, and competing demands on time.
Women who live in rural or remote areas may face more challenges in accessing eye care services. In some cases, women may have no control over their own health care decisions and rely on male family members to seek medical help on their behalf.
In addition to these pervasive obstacles, women face special challenges when it comes to eye health. For example, hormonal changes during pregnancy and menopause can affect a woman’s vision, and some medications commonly used by women (such as oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy) can also affect eye health. Women who wear makeup are at higher risk for eye infections or irritation, especially if they don’t remove makeup properly.
Age-standardized prevalence of visual disorders by sex and etiology in adults over 50 years of age. Image: Prevent Blindness International
Address gender gaps in eye care services
Addressing gender disparities in eye health requires a multifaceted approach that involves the joint efforts of governments, health care providers, non-governmental organizations and civil society. The following strategies can help close the gap and promote gender equality in eye health globally:
1. Policy reform
Initiating policy changes at the national and international levels is critical to addressing gender disparities in eye health. Governments and global health organizations must make eye care an integral part of women’s health care. This includes advocating for policies that ensure affordable and accessible eye care services for women, including subsidized or free eye exams and treatments.
Policies that promote gender equality in health care are also important, such as implementing anti-discrimination measures and encouraging gender-sensitive training for health care professionals.
2. Publicity campaign
Targeted awareness campaigns targeting women from different backgrounds are essential to foster a culture of positive eye care. Partnering with community leaders, educational institutions, and health care providers can amplify the impact of these campaigns to educate women about regular eye exams, early detection of eye disease, and good eye care habits.
Highlighting the link between overall health and eye health encourages women to prioritize vision care.
3. Strengthen the healthcare system
Transforming the health care system to make it more inclusive and responsive to women’s needs is critical. This includes ensuring that eye care services are integrated into primary health care Settings and that these services address women’s unique eye health issues.
Training healthcare professionals to recognize and address gender issues related to eye health, such as hormonal changes that affect vision, can significantly improve the quality of care provided to women.
4. Community participation and empowerment
Engaging the community and empowering women to take charge of their own eye health can have a lasting impact. Establishing community-based eye care programs, especially in underserved areas, can increase access to eye care services for women who face geographic or cultural barriers.
In addition, empowering women through education and economic opportunities can improve their access to eye health services and improve their overall health status and autonomy.
5. Research and data collection
It is important to study the relationship between gender and eye health. Collecting sex-disaggregated data on eye conditions, access to eye care, and treatment outcomes can identify differences and inform evidence-based interventions.
Investing in research aimed at understanding how gender affects eye health and access to care is critical to developing targeted solutions.
Achieving universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals means promoting gender equality in eye health. This involves addressing the unique challenges women face in accessing eye care to improve health and promote gender equality to build more inclusive societies.
Through collaborative efforts and targeted interventions, we can close the gap and ensure that all people, regardless of gender, have access to quality eye care services.