Here is some information given by the Royal National Institute for the Blind that makes us all more aware of how many people are visually impaired in Great Britain and how people should be aware of accidents that can cause blindness. R.N.I.B. Information Visual defects are one of the most common causes of disability in the world. In Britain nearly one million people are blind or partially sighted - almost one person in sixty. Worldwide there are 42 million blind people. The World Health Organisation defines 'profound blindness' as the inability to count fingers at a distance of ten feet or less.
Partial sight is more difficult to define.
Here we use the term visual impairment to include blindness and partial sight. Many different eye defects and diseases can give rise to visual impairment. In Britain the most common are cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Different eye conditions create different problems. Very few blind people see nothing at all.