Eyes On. World Sight Day

Yes, I know it has been too long since the last edition, but the summer has been busy and filled with events such as ESCRS and lots more. But what better time to bring it back than on World Sight Day.

Moving forward, Eyes On. will have a new look and will aim to highlight conversations and interviews with leaders of the industry to highlight exciting companies and emerging technologies in the space.

But we will save that for next time, as today we will be highlighting news and awareness for World Sight Day.

What is World Sight Day?

World Sight Day is organised by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and aims to raise awareness around prioritising your own eye health and continues with the #loveyoureyes campaign. For 2023, the focus is around the importance of eye health in the workplace.

Love Your Eyes At Work

This years campaign highlights the importance for you to look after your vision at work, for businesses to prioritise eye screenings for employees and ways to avoid accidents that are likely to cause eye injuries.

Good vision can improve your earning potential with studies showing that 46% of people moved up a pay bracket after cataract surgery. Even the slightest vision impairment can reduce productivity by 10%.

“What we’re trying to do is reach as many people as possible with messages about how important eye health is, how important it is to look after your eyes, to be aware about the kinds of conditions you might have, and where to get eye care,”

Peter Holland , CEO of IAPB speaking to Optometry Today

10,000,000 Pledges

World Sight Day aims to get 10 million pledges from people to #loveyoureyes and get your eyesight tested. Once again they smashed through this target with individuals and organisations across the world pledging their sight tests.

It is important to get your eyesight tested at least every 2 years even if you think your vision is perfect. This fact was not a well known one around the office with many colleagues admitting that they have not had an eye test since childhood.

Free Vision Screening on Capitol Hill

Prevent Blindness are hosting free vision screening from 10am - 2pm ET today with support from Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington . The screenings will evaluate visual acuity and risk factors for Glaucoma.

The event, which is sponsored by 安进 , Genentech and AbbVie , will also feature talks on how vision loss can affect people on both personal and professional basis and how they can access vision and eye care services. Speakers include Vivian Fridas , Caren Forsten , David Rein and Sara D. Brown, MPA .

World Sight Day Photo Competition

Every year the IAPB host a World Sight Day Photo competition for both amateur and professional photographers to share with the world what it means to #loveyoureyes with the images being used to increase awareness.

Entries are open until 20th October and can be part of 4 different categories:

??Your Eyes - showcasing eye health, rehabilitation and access to services.

??Your Eyes at Work - capturing the prioritisation of eye care in the workplace.

??Health for All - capturing the tireless efforts of healthcare professionals

Eye-Sights - celebrating the connection between photography and the eyes.

UN Blurred Photo Exhibition

The United Nations have also been involved by displaying the 2030 IN SIGHT photo exhibition in the corridors of their New York headquarters.

The exhibition highlights that accessible, available and affordable eye health is essential to achieving their sustainable development goals.

The exhibition showcases how the world looks to people living with avoidable sight loss with several images being blurred to mirror how they would be viewed by people suffering from untreated cataracts, glaucoma or myopia.

The exhibition follow a meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly which was titled 'The Value of Vision' and reported that unaddressed vision loss costs the global economy $411 billion in lost productivity.

World Sight Day Resources

It's never too late to get involved and raise awareness of the importance of eye health with your family, friends and colleagues. The IAPB has all the resources that you need on the World Sight Day website.

World Sight Day Resources - follow the link to access them.

What are you and your company doing to raise awareness for World Sight Day? Leave a comment below to let me and others know.

EyesOn. The Future

As mentioned at the start, we will be continuing EyesOn. in a new way featuring interviews from exciting companies in the ophthalmology and eyecare space.

Are you a senior leader looking to showcase your company or technology? Reach out and let's arrange an interview to feature here