Introducing the Vision Access Index

The Vision Access Index measures, for each of Kenya's 47 counties, how many people have trouble seeing and how easily they can get refractive eye care.

What it measures

The first indicator comes from the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census. It counts people aged 5 and over who reported a lot of difficulty seeing, or being unable to see, even with glasses. It shows where need is concentrated.

How it works

Each figure is taken from a published source, such as a census table or a research paper, and recorded with the page it came from. We combine the figures by county, and we are building dashboards for partners and county health teams.

How we will improve it

We will review the method with county health teams and academic partners, add new datasets as they are published, and include results from screening days. Each update should make the Index more useful for deciding where to screen first and where more evidence or investment is needed.