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World Sight Day 2022: Love Your Eyes

World Sight Day 2022: Love Your Eyes

by Dr. Trupti Shirole on Oct 8 2022 12:43 PM
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Highlights:
  • About 2.2 billion people, or 25% of the global population, are visually impaired
  • World Sight Day will be celebrated on Thursday, October 13, 2022
  • Every year, the world commemorates World Sight Day as a unique day to raise awareness on the global issue of eye health
World Sight Day is celebrated on the second Thursday in October. The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly support the day.
The ultimate purpose of World Sight Day is to raise awareness of cataracts, glaucoma, and other chronic eye disorders promptly to prevent visual impairment or blindness. It is one of the most significant ways to draw attention to the significance of eye health.

Almost half of the vision impairment is preventable or still could be reversed. Without immediate and long-term action, there may be 115 million blind individuals in the world by 2050 (1 Trusted Source
World Sight Day is an annual event to raise awareness of the importance of good eye care around the globe.

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) .

Eye health involves more than simply eyesight. It involves a sense of the future. A positive impact on eye health can be shown in outcomes in education, the economy and health. The effects would be great if all the world's eye care needs were satisfied.

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Theme of World Sight Day 2022

The IAPB has confirmed it will continue the theme of #Love Your Eyes for World Sight Day 2022. (3 Trusted Source
'Love Your Eyes' Confirmed as the Theme for World Sight Day 2022

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) Over 3.5 million eye tests were promised for World Sight Day 2021 by people, eye care specialists, hospitals, NGOs and enterprises. According to a statement from the IAPD, the campaign this year seeks to build on that excellent work by seeking to involve even more people in the public. For World Sight Day 2022, IAPB hopes to secure more than 5 million pledged sight tests.

The ‘Love Your Eyes’ campaign urges people to take responsibility for their eye health and raises awareness of the more than a billion people worldwide who are blind or have low vision but lack access to eye care. Blindness and vision impairment are significant global public health and development challenges, and World Sight Day 2022 strives to increase awareness of these issues.


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Awareness Programs on World Sight Day

In 2022, World Sight Day will be observed on Thursday, October 13. The media outlets and social action groups hold a variety of activities to raise awareness of the global issue of blindness on this day. Additionally, there are campaigns to raise money and persuade governments to implement measures.

Others opt to participate by submitting a photo that will be included in an international photo montage with a blindness-related theme. Some individuals choose to show their support by planting trees, while others choose to get involved by contributing a photo.

Other events on this day include special fundraising walks to help with operating expenses, book readings for the blind, and the creation of several booklets and posters to increase awareness of the problem.

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History of World Sight Day

World Sight Day was started by the Lions Club International Foundation in 2000 as a component of the Sight First campaign. It is now run by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) as part of the VISION 2020 global initiative, which aims to promote a world in which no one is unnecessarily blind (2 Trusted Source
Awareness Days Events Calendar

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).


Primary Objectives of World Sight Day

  • To educate the public about issues related to blindness and visual impairment.
  • To persuade governments, particularly health ministers, to participate and contribute funds to programmes for preventing blindness.
  • To encourage participation in the vision programme and events.
​ ​ References:
  1. World Sight Day is an annual event to raise awareness of the importance of good eye care around the globe. - (https://www.sightsavers.org/world-sight-day/)
  2. Awareness Days Events Calendar - (https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/world-sight-day-2022/)
  3. 'Love Your Eyes' Confirmed as the Theme for World Sight Day 2022 - (https://eyewire.news/news/love-your-eyes-confirmed-as-the-theme-for-world-sight-day-2022)


Source-Medindia


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