Childhood blindness refers to a group of diseases and conditions occurring in childhood or early adolescence, which, if left untreated, result in blindness or severe visual impairment that are likely to be untreatable later in life.

The major causes of blindness in children vary widely from region to region, being largely determined by socioeconomic development, and the availability of primary health care and eye care services. In high-income countries, lesions of the optic nerve and higher visual pathways predominate as the cause of blindness, while corneal scarring from measles, vitamin A deficiency, the use of harmful traditional eye remedies, ophthalmia neonatorum, and rubella cataract are the major causes in low-income countries.

Retinopathy of prematurity is an important cause in middle-income countries. Other significant causes in all countries are congenital abnormalities, such as cataract, glaucoma, and hereditary retinal dystrophies. According to Gilbert and Foster, the prevalence of blindness in children varies according to socioeconomic development and under-5 mortality rates. In low-income countries with high under-5 mortality rates, the prevalence may be as high as 1.5 per 1000 children, while in high-income countries with low under-5 mortality rates, the prevalence is around 0.3 per 1000 children.

Using this correlation to estimate the prevalence of blindness in children, the number of blind children in the world is approximately 1.4 million. Approximately three-quarters of the world’s blind children live in the poorest regions of Africa and Asia.

Prevention and treatment of childhood blindness is disease specific. For Vitamin A deficiency, at a cost of only 5 US cents a dose, vitamin A supplements reduce child mortality by up to 34% in areas where Vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem.