Today is the second Thursday of October, and we all know what that means – it’s World Sight Day
Okay, to be honest, you probably didn’t know that. The good news is that we’re here to educate you on all there is to know about WSD!
World Sight Day is an annual day of bringing global awareness to blindness and vision impairment. Healthy eyesight is an important part of our day-to-day lives, and it is our responsibility to educate as many people as we can about eye health and vision correction treatments.
The theme for this year’s World Sight Day is “Stronger Together.” This call to action reminds us that it takes a joint effort from patients, advocates, and eye care professionals in all areas of practice (ophthalmologists, optometrists, nurses, donors, etc.) to spread awareness of universal eye health.
The video at the top of this post, provides all kinds of options for you and your colleagues to jump into the mix and bring awareness to the issue of poor vision around the world.
The reality is, blindness and vision impairment are issues that affect people all across the world, especially in underdeveloped countries where measures of prevention and treatment are not readily available.
Our friends at the International Association for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) really put the prevalence of blindness and vision impairment into perspective with these stats: Did you know:
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Approximately 285 million people worldwide live with low vision and blindness
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Of these, 39 million people are blind and 246 million have moderate or severe visual impairment
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90% of blind people live in low-income countries
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Yet 80% of visual impairment is avoidable – i.e. readily treatable and/or preventable
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Restorations of sight, and blindness prevention strategies are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care
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The number of people blind from infectious causes has greatly reduced in the past 20 years
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An estimated 19 million children are visually impaired
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About 65% of all people who are visually impaired are aged 50 and older, while this age group comprises only 20% of the world’s population
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Increasing elderly populations in many countries mean that more people will be at risk of age-related visual impairment
At nJoy Vision, we pride ourselves in bringing advanced treatment options, patient education, and world class surgeons to the communities and patients we serve. Check out the Awareness section on our blog for more tips and information about protecting your eyes and maintaining good eye health.
