Developing Healthy People 2020 vision objectives

Vision loss is a major public health problem in the United States. Eye diseases, conditions, and injuries cause significant suffering, disability, loss of productivity, and diminished quality of life for millions of people. Reflecting the importance of vision health, vision objectives were included in the national health goals for the first time as a new focus area in Healthy People 2010.

Healthy People 2010 vision objectives represent the first comprehensive look at vision health promotion and vision loss prevention at the national level. There are 8 vision objectives for adults and 2 for children. When these objectives were published in November 2000, all but one lacked national baseline data.

National Center for Health Statistics, CDC in collaboration with the National Eye Institute, NIH used data from the National Health Interview Survey, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and National Electronic Injury Surveillance System to derive national estimates of visual impairment due to refractive errors, prevalence of occupational eye injuries and age-related eye diseases (cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy), use of eye care services, and protective eyewear. The distribution of these eye conditions and eye care services use in various population sub-groups are described.

As a result of these efforts national data to monitor progress towards all Healthy People 2010 vision health objectives are currently available. The Healthy People vision working group has been working on developing new 2020 Healthy People objectives to provide a framework for future public health initiatives relating to visual health promotion.