More than two million at risk of visual poverty

More than two million people over 65 years of age are at risk of suffering visual poverty in Spain, which means that they may have financial problems to afford the purchase of glasses, because the expense of these products can represent between 30 and 50 percent of their monthly pension, according to a study by Vision and Life.

The president of the entity, Salvador Alsinahas asserted that this represents an “impossible expense” for many households and has demanded that the Government provide “structural coverage” to attend to the vision of adults and the elderly. The study Visual poverty in the elderly was presented this Thursday with the support of Express Post and the association Action Vision Spain.

According to what he points out, Spain exceeds 10 million people over 65 years of agealmost one in five. Of these, more than 8.3 million need glasses (82.4%)but only 6.6 million are pensionerswith an average income of 1,566.81 euros and 937 euros in case of widowhood. The entity has estimated the average cost of the glasses they might need in 495 euros.

In this way, he has calculated that paying for glasses could cost up to half of a retired person’s pension. “If we add the fact that 60 percent of the pension is already derived from basic expenses, such as food and housing, we see how the acquisition of this essential tool to enjoy a good quality of life represents a real loss for many people”says the study.

Visual health, key to autonomy

The visual poverty Not only does it translate into focusing problems, according to Eurapa Press, but also a very real risk of losing vision. autonomyincreased risk of falls, social isolation and dependency. Previous studies have linked low vision with greater limitations in performing basic activities of daily living, reinforcing the urgency of addressing this problem as an integral part of active aging policies.

To calculate the 2.1 million older people at risk of visual poverty, Visión y Vida has considered the AROPE rateaccording to which the 25.7 percent of the population is at risk of poverty in Spain, although there are differences between territories. Andalusia (with a rate of 34.7%), Castile-La Mancha (34%) wave Murcia Region (32.5%) exceed the country average. For its part, the Basque Country (14.7%), Balearic Islands (15.2%) either Navarre (16.5%) are far from this average.

Visión y Vida has warned that postponing visual health care and resign yourself to seeing worse has a significant impact on the quality of life of older people, who are at risk of losing autonomyincrease the risk of falls, isolation and dependency.

“We know that there is aid, both national and local and regional, and that the Dependency Law covers some cases, but we need to offer adults and seniors structural coverage that guarantees prevention programs, the integration of vision in active aging policies, information and accessibility for solutions and, if necessary, they have the necessary financial help to enjoy good vision, as is already the case with the VEO Plan and those under 16 years of age.”Alsina highlighted.