As both health care professionals and small business owners, optometrists have much to contribute toward building a vibrant and growing economy.
We know there is an emerging crisis in eye health, vision care, and rehabilitation in Canada. We also know that the reality of vision loss on productivity in Canada has a profound effect on the economy. For example, only one-third of working-age adults with vision loss are employed. According to the most recent Statistics Canada data, people living with vision impairment and loss had an unemployment rate of 13%. They also are at greater risk of social isolation and reduced community participation.
An estimated 5.5 million Canadians have vision-threatening eye conditions. The number of Canadian adults with one of the leading ocular diseases will double in the next 20 years. Age-related eye disease is skyrocketing. Data from the Public Health Agency of Canada shows that vision loss accounts for approximately 8% of the economic burden of illness in Canada.
Vision loss has the highest direct health care costs of any disease category in Canada, more than diabetes, cancer, mental disorders, respiratory disease, arthritis, or cardiovascular disease. The total cost of vision loss is expected to cost Canadians more than $30 billion annually by 2032. However, the good news is that 75% of vision loss is preventable or treatable. Preventive primary care can make a difference.