Cataract, a disease of the lens is the most prevalent form of ocular damage associated with UV exposure. Corrective surgery can prevent most cataracts from causing blindness. However, in the United States, cataract remains the third leading cause of legal blindness. In developing countries, where the percentage of the World aged population is greatest and where such operations are not always available, cataracts result in a much higher incidence of blindness and can become a major public health problem. It has been estimated that a one-percent decrease in stratospheric ozone will be accompanied by a 0.6 to 0.8 percent increase in cataracts.
Ultraviolet radiation is known to affect the immunological defenses of the skin.
In these instances, the skin's immune response is the body's first line of defense. Preliminary experiments of infectious diseases using animal models have indicated that UV-B can also adversely affect the ability of animals to respond to or contain various infectious agents. Although there are as yet no epidemiological data to suggest that such effects occur in human populations, nevertheless, animal data suggest that an increase in the severity of certain infections may occur as UV-B increases due to ozone depletion. In areas of the world where such infections already pose a significant challenge to the public health care delivery systems, the added effect due to ozone depletion may be significant.