AIM:To describe the prevalence and causes of low vision and blindness in a population within Sichuan province in southwestern China.METHODS:A stratified,multi-phased and cluster probability sampling design was employed to enumerate 125641 participants from 40351 households within 38 counties/cities. Participants underwent a comprehensive eye examination,including standardized visual acuity (VA) tests using logarithm of the minimum angle resolution charts. Prevalence was age-and gender-standardized to the 2000 China Census.RESULTS:Population-weighted prevalence of blindness was 0.77% (95% CI:0.72-0.82,n=966) and low vision was 1.22% (95% CI:1.14-1.27,n=1513). Overall,the prevalence of visual disability was 1.40% in the urban population,and 2.22% in the rural population (P<0.01). Cataract was the leading cause of visual disability (55.7%,n=1381),and was of similar frequency in both urban and rural populations. Retinal disease was the second leading cause (9.7%,n=236),but was more common in urban than rural participants (34.3% vs 2.7%,P<0.01). Corneal disease accounted for 6.5% (n=161) of cases of visual disability,and was more common in the rural population (7.2% vs 3.9%,P=0.006). CONCLUSION:We estimate that 1.72 million people suffer from visual disability within Sichuan province,of which 525000 are blind,the focus of blindness prevention should be in rural area.