We are delighted to present this issue on eye health for women and girls. This is the first time since 2009 that the journal has focused on gender equity. Women and girls – and gender-diverse people – still experience worse access to good quality services, and therefore have a higher prevalence of vision impairment compared to men and boys. While the articles in the issue focus on women and girls as the largest group experiencing gender inequity, we recognise the amplified challenges faced by gender minorities, including transgender and non-binary people.
Women and girls make up 55% of the 1.1 billion people experiencing vision loss. The fact that women tend to live longer than men, and have higher rates of vision impairment due to age-related conditions, does not fully account for this difference in eye health outcomes between genders. The key cause is a lack of equitable access to high quality eye health care, due to both systemic barriers and social and cultural factors.