YLLs were calculated only for deaths that occur within each year. The numbers of deaths associated with partial sight and blindness were calculated using the methodology outlined in Section 4.1.2. The estimated total numbers of deaths due to VI and blindness by age and gender were reported in Table 4.3 (Section 4.1.2) for those aged 40 years and over in 2010, 2015 and 2020.

Life tables for the ROI (CSO, 2009) detail the estimated remaining years of life at different ages i.e. numbers of undiscounted YLLs for someone who dies at each age. Similar to productivity losses due to death, these YLLs were discounted at an annual rate of 4% to estimate the present value of the DALY burden (see Section 4.1.2).

Table 5.2 presents the discounted YLLs due to VI and blindness. The burden of mortality due to VI and blindness is projected to increase from 510 YLLs in 2010 to 736 YLLs in 2020.

Table 5.2: Estimated YLLs due to VI and blindness

Source: Deloitte Access Economics calculations using ABS (2010), CSO (2008; 2009; 2010g), Department of Finance (2010) and McCarty et al (2001).