[Age-related macular degeneration: a socioeconomic time bomb in our aging society]

More than 50% of all Europeans over 65 years of age have alterations to the fundus that should give rise to the suspicion of incipient age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Demographic changes in the German population and the longer life expectancy now are causing a rapid increase in the absolute number of AMD patients. On the one hand, new treatment options are causing an increase in treatment costs; on the other, social costs are also rising because patients are often left with some sight impairment. The authors attempt to forecast prevalence and incidence on the basis of the epidemiological data known for Germany and, using model calculations, to highlight trends that illustrate the increasing socioeconomic significance of this disease.

Forecasts show that the number of patients with advanced AMD will increase from 710,000 at present to over a million by 2020. In the same period, the number of patients with neovascular AMD will increase from 485,000 to 700,000. There are currently 50,000 new cases of neovascular AMD every year in Germany, and it has only just become possible to treat these with the new anti-VEGF drugs. The new treatment options will cause additional annual costs of 1.1-2.9 billion euro for Germany alone.

The new treatment options for AMD will lead to a pronounced reduction in the number of visually impaired and blind people. However, this progress cannot be achieved without the financial resources dedicated to ophthalmology being approximately doubled.