World Sight Day (WSD), also known as World Eye Day or World Vision Day, is observed annually on the second Thursday of October across the globe to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. It is coordinated by the London(the United Kingdom, UK) based International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and the Geneva(Switzerland) based World Health Organization(WHO).
- The aim of WSD is to promote the ideas of eye health, preventive measures to avoid blindness and to ensure quality and equal eye treatment for all people in the world.
WSD 2024 falls on October 10th 2024.
- WSD 2023 was observed on 12th October 2023 and WSD 2025 will be observed on 9th October 2025.
2024 Theme:
The theme of the WSD 2024 is “Children, Love Your Eyes”.
- The theme focuses on the eye care of children. The main aim is to reduce the screen time of children to prevent short sightedness (myopia) and other disorders along with ensuring quality and accessible eye treatment for all children without any discrimination
Background :
i.The Sight First campaign of the Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF) initiated the World Sight Day(WSD).
- This campaign was launched in 1990, aims to preserve and restore sight, and promote eye care worldwide.
ii.The LCIF integrated the WSD with VISION 2020, which was then coordinated by the WHO and the IABP.
iii. In 1999, the World Health Organization (WHO) officially launched the WSD and WSD was first observed on October 12, 2000.
Love Your Eyes Campaign:
IABP launched the Love Your Eyes Campaign in 2021 to make people aware about eye health and along with the aim of providing eye care accessible and affordable to all by 2030.
- The campaign is ongoing and it encourages people to prioritise their eye health.
Initiatives by WHO
- WHO eyes :It is an app available in 14 languages, which helps in checking an individual’s vision without the help of an eye care provider.
- SPECS 2030: A comprehensive programme to make eye care facilities accessible to a wider population of people. It targets a 40% increase in the accessibility of spectacles to the individuals of a country.
- Integrated people-centred eye care (IPEC): Launched in 2023, for the integrated People- Centered eye care in South East Asia. It is one of the key programmes in IN SIGHT 2030 strategy.
- INSIGHT 2030 came as a replacement for VISION 2020.
Keypoints:
i.According to the WHO, nearly 220 crore people across the world are visually impaired, and 10 crore people suffer from a vision disability that could have been avoided or is still unaddressed.
ii.According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the IAPB, more than 1.3 crores of people worldwide have vision impairment related to their work, with an estimated 350 lakh eye injuries happening in the workplace each year.
- Among all cases of blindness, 90% of them can be avoided or treated if identified early.
Related Observance :
i.Prevention of Blindness Week is a week-long campaign observed every year from April 1-7 by the Government of India(GoI) to spread awareness of blindness among people.
ii.World Glaucoma Week is observed every year in the second week of Marchto raise worldwide public awareness of glaucoma.
About International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB):
President – Caroline Casey
Founded – 1975
Headquarters – London, the United Kingdom(UK)
