Blindness is a major global health challenge due to the enormous impact it has on patients and their families, as well as its important socio-economic consequences. Besides the great emotional impact that it implies for patients and their families, it also means the inability to pursue education, to find a quality job, more risk because of falls and accidents, limited autonomy, and is a major obstacle to having an active, quality lifestyle.
During the coming years, one of every four people over 50 will suffer some kind of degenerative eye disease. Currently in the EU there are 91 million sufferers over 65, and it is expected to reach 127 million by 2020. It is estimated that there are 285 million people worldwide with impaired vision, and 39 million of them are blind.
Basic and translational researchers, leaders and experts in all disciplines attend the B · Debate conferences in order to share innovative therapeutic opportunities in each sector, and especially in the exploration and discovery of possible synergies to generate new multidisciplinary collaborative research projects in the fields covered.
