World Sight Day: Clearer Vision Makes Safer Roads

World Sight Day is observed annually on October 12 as a global initiative dedicated to raising awareness about vision impairment, vision care and other issues related to eyes. The day promises to be impactful, honouring ophthalmologists and medical professionals who work tirelessly around the globe to combat vision issues.

The theme for this year is “Love your eyes at work”, intending to ensure that eye care is available, accessible, and affordable for everyone.?

Globally, at least 1 billion people have near or distant vision impairment that can be prevented. Vision impairment affects people of all ages, with the majority being over the age of 50. It goes without saying that vision impairment and blindness can have significant and long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily personal activities, interacting with the communities around us, school and work opportunities and the ability to access public services. Most causes of blindness are preventable, but many end up being visually impaired because of the lack of access to awareness and proper treatment.

Apollo Tyres found that vision impairment is one of the most common but neglected issues, especially among the trucking community in India. Uncorrected vision accounts for more than a million road accident deaths each year. It was shocking to learn that more than half of the truck drivers in India face vision refraction problems. With often irregular driving hours coupled with changing weather and road conditions, having a clear vision is of grave importance.

The Apollo Tyres Foundation (ATF) is committed to serving one of its key stakeholders, and we started our vision care intervention programme for truck drivers in 2015. It is now a part of our flagship healthcare initiative for our trucking communities, entailing several initiatives with mobile and accessible healthcare provisions.? ??

The Apollo Tyres Foundation organises Vision Screening Camps at 32 central transshipment locations across 19 states of India every year. This year, the camps will be held today, on World Sight Day, to find active cases of vision impairment. Since the programme's inception, 422,728 beneficiaries have been vision tested, over 222,175 beneficiaries have been found with refractive errors, and 66,081 beneficiaries have received eyewear to address their eye issues. In addition, we have also partnered with government hospitals across the country to facilitate affordable, low-cost treatment for cataract-related problems.

Healthy eyesight and clearer vision go a long way in keeping truck drivers and everyone else on the roads safer. Therefore, proper eye care is a necessity, and I am very proud of all the work the Apollo Tyres Foundation has been doing. Our programme this year will further support the communities we strive to serve.

Together, let’s #GoTheDistance to ensure that our roads are safer and proper vision care is available, affordable and accessible to all.

?#LoveYourEyes #Visionfirst #WorldSightDay