Open Your Eyes to What’s Going On
What is World Sight Day?
World Sight Day is on Thursday 13 October 2022. It’s organised by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, plus 200 member organisations. World Sight Day is a chance for people all around the world to focus on eye health as a global issue. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of good eye health, and to encourage governments and decision-makers to prioritise eye health initiatives.
In a recent report, the United Nations (UN) stated that good eye health was essential to helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. People in developed countries are lucky enough to be able to see an optician for an eye test every six months, and to be referred to hospital to treat eye problems. However, not everyone in the world is so lucky.
How Common Are Eye Problems?
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that ‘at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment’. In almost half of these cases, the impairment could have been prevented or has yet to be treated. Some common eye problems include glaucoma, cataracts and macular degeneration.
#LoveYourEyes
The UN is calling on ‘global partners and members to help show the world how important it is to #LoveYourEyes’.
How Can You Get Involved?
Anyone can get involved in World Sight Day by making a commitment to #LoveYourEyes. Pledge to have a sight test or care for your eyes and share on social media to encourage others do the same.
How Can We Look After Our Eyes?
If you have children, you’re responsible for looking after their eyes too. Children should have an eye test every year, to check for any problems. You can also look after their eyes by encouraging them to wear sunhats and sunglasses in summer, and by ensuring they avoid too much screen time.
If your child has to sit very close to the TV to see it, holds a book right up to their face to read, or complains of headaches or double vision, they may need glasses.
If you’re concerned about your eyes or have a question relating to eye health, why not check out the RNIB’s website?
Are you looking after your eyes as well as you can? Take this quick quiz to find out…
Help Is Available…
Good eyesight is so important, for many reasons. Many jobs cannot be done if you are blind or have poor sight, and losing your job affects your economic independence. We rely on our eyes to tell us where we are, and to help us avoid obstacles when we are out. Many people lose their confidence, and their independence, when they lose their sight. People can react in many different ways when they are told they are losing their sight, such as with anger, fear or resentment, and their reaction affects their family and friends too.
If you are having vision problems, or you know someone who is, why not look at the NHS’s web page on vision loss? It contains many useful links to organisations that can help. The RNIB also runs a Sight Loss Advice Service. In the UK, help is available to those who need it – and the goal of World Sight Day is to increase everyone’s access to eye tests and eye health care, no matter where in the world we live.