About 158 million need glasses worldwide

BALTIMORE, June 4 (UPI) -- Uncorrected vision -- usually treated with an eye exam and glasses -- costs $269 billion annually in lost productivity worldwide, U.S. researchers said.

The study, published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, was conducted by researchers from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of School of Public Health in Baltimore, Australia's International Center for Eyecare Education and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, and the Vision Research Institute in Africa.

The study estimated nearly 158 million people globally suffer with vision impairment resulting from uncorrected refractive error -- which can usually be eliminated with an eye examination and a pair of eyeglasses.

"The economic gains that could be made if eyeglasses were provided to everyone in need are substantial," study author Kevin Frick of Johns Hopkins said in a statement.

"The Western Pacific region, which includes China and Vietnam, has the highest estimated number of cases of uncorrected refractive error at 62 million and is responsible for almost half of the potential loss of productivity. The Southeast Asia region, encompassing Bangladesh, India and Nepal, has 48.7 million cases."