The United Nations has estimated that about 39 million people are blind globally, while another 1.3 billion people live with some form of near vision impairment.
Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/news/39-million-people-blind-globally-%E2%80%93-un
[2] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/newspaper/premium-times-nigeria
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/un
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/global
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/eye-diseases
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/who
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/blindness