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A new publication of statistics by the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows the number of people registered as blind or partially sighted has dropped quite dramatically during the period 2011 to 2014. The report covers both adults and children in the UK and includes those who have a Certificate of Vision Impairment and have agreed to be registered in HSCIC statistics. As such, it is possible that the numbers of registrations are not complete as it is an optional requirement.
The key information to come from this publication shows an overall decrease in people registered as blind from 147,800 in 2011 to 143,400 in 2014, which is a continuing decrease from the 2003 numbers which showed 156,700 registrations. On top of this, the levels of partially sighted people has also seen a decrease from 155,200 in 2003, 151,000 in 2011 down to 147,700 in 2014.
It is however, not all good news. For the age band 0-4 years of age, registrations for blindness or being partially sighted has actually risen from 710 to 740. Children of a slightly older age have seen drops but the highest falling category is those over the age of 75, with a 7% decrease in the past three years.
Stats in focus:
- Numbers of people registered as blind
2011 - 147,800
2014 - 143,400
3% decrease - Numbers of people registered as partially sighted
2011 - 151,000
2014 - 147,700
2% decrease - 3% decrease in the number of new registrations of blind people
- 3% increase in the number of new registrations of partially sighted people
- Highest decrease in numbers of people registered as blind - 75 yo and above (7%)
- Highest decrease in numbers of people registered as partially sighted - 75 yo and above (5%)