IAPD is offering a variety of resources.
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness describes World Sight Day (Oct. 12, 2017) as “a day to mark our successes and celebrate the restoration of sight in the millions.”
It’s also “when we celebrate our efforts to ensure that those with irreversible vision loss live life to the fullest.”
If you want to help celebrate World Sight Day, the organization has made available several resources:
Additionally, the IAPB Vision Atlas website is a compilation of the latest data and evidence on avoidable blindness and vision impairment, the organization explains on its website. On World Sight Day this year, the Atlas will have updated prevalence maps with data for every country from 1990 to 2015, with projections to 2020.
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IAPB is sharing World Sight Day stories on its Facebook page and on Twitter. Be sure to use #MakeVisionCount.
For more information, visit the WSD17 page. You can also send a report of your activities, along with photos, to communications@iapb.org.
Several other organizations also made announcements related to World Sight Day:
- The World Council of Optometry noted that it is “proud to support the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and its members in launching the IAPB Vision Atlas that brings all the latest data and ideas on blindness prevention to one place.”
- Think About Your Eyes planned to celebrate World Sight Day with a consumer campaign across social media, national and local traditional media, and in-person events in select regional markets around the country. The campaign’s national media outreach is centered around the results of a consumer survey, conducted by Think About Your Eyes in early September, on the importance of vision in everyday life and the steps taken to protect vision health. The results will be shared with national health and lifestyle media, and can be found at www.thinkaboutyoureyes.com/surveyreport. Think About Your Eyes planned to celebrate the day with on-the-ground photo ops in five art-centric cities, promote the importance of an annual eye exam to national media, and partner with Instagram influencers to celebrate life’s moments that our sight allows us to experience.
- Essilor said it was launching #PutVisionFirst, a global campaign to create awareness about the importance of good vision and encourage everyone to visit an eyecare professional for regular eye examinations.
- Alcon is celebrating World Sight Day through activities planned around the world, including the Cycle for Sight 20/20 Challenge taking place at the upcoming American Academy of Optometry (AAO) annual meeting in Chicago and at Alcon facilities in several countries. One arm of this year’s Cycle for Sight 20/20 Challenge will take center stage at the AAO annual meeting where Academy members and Alcon leaders will go head-to-head on stationary bikes for 2,020 minutes to trigger a $25,000 donation from the Alcon Foundation to the AAO Foundation to fund optometric education and research. Simultaneously, 2,020 associates at Alcon facilities worldwide will ride stationary bikes to help raise an additional $25,000 from the Alcon Foundation for Optometry Giving Sight’s Our Children’s Vision, a program designed to deliver effective, sustainable eye health to children around the world, regardless of their economic status.
- To celebrate World Sight Day, OneSight launched their first global fitness and fundraising challenge. Over 1000 supporters from around the globe participated in the Ready Set See challenge, raising nearly $150,000. Ready Set See participants ran, walked, biked, swam over 26,000 miles, which is further than traveling from Australia to the U.S. Participants raised funds for four new sustainable vision centers that will serve nearly 1 million people and glasses for those impacted by hurricane Harvey. If you weren’t able to participate, but still want to make a big difference for World Sight Day, you can donate to the challenge at www.readysetsee.org.
- VisionSpring outlined its work providing vision screenings and “radically affordable eyeglasses” to low-income areas in Africa, Asia, and South America. VisionSpring has facilitated screenings for more than 6 million people and distributed 3.9 million pairs of eyeglasses in over 40 markets, expanding its reach by partnering with multinational companies such as Target and Honest Tea for employee eye screenings in developing countries.
