Blindness as a challenging medical and social problem in China.

China, a country with about one fifth of the world's population, has been gaining a rapid economic growth since 1980s. This country has around 5 million blind people, accounting for 18% of the blind in the world. The major causes of blindness include cataract, corneal diseases, trachoma, glaucoma, vitreoretinopathy and a number of factors contributing to blindness in children. The principal cause of blindness in China was no longer trachoma but cataracts. Vitamin A deficiency remains a public health problem in the under-developed areas. Age-related conditions in China, such as vision loss due to cataract and retinal disorders, will increase accordingly if no preventive meaunes are taken. Glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy appear to be predominant induction of the devastating blind. In this fast developing country blindness is not only a medical or health, but also a social problem. Developed strategies have been adopted simultaneously by national efforts under the leadership of the government, international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, as well as private sectors in their every-day work to prevent and treat blindness.