World Sight Day - October 2009
8 October 2009
World Sight Day (WSD) is an international day of awareness, held annually on the second Thursday of October to focus attention on the global issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment.
Included on the official World Health Organization calendar, WSD is co-ordinated by IAPB under the VISION 2020 Global Initiative. The theme and certain core materials are generated by IAPB.
All events are organised independently by IAPB members and supporting organisations.
Global Key Messages for WSD09
· Nearly two-thirds of blind people worldwide are women & girls
· In many places, men have twice the access to eye care as women
· Equal access to eye care could substantially reduce blindness in poor countries*
· Simple and effective strategies can and do successfully address this inequity within VISION 2020: The Right to Sight
· 80% of blindness is avoidable – i.e. could be prevented, cured or treated
· 45million people worldwide are blind, and 269million are vision impaired
· 90% of blind people live in low-income countries
· The world’s leading cause of blindness is cataract – yet it is curable by a simple, cost-effective operation
For more information please download the press release or visit www.v2020.org/wsd09
The College of Optometrists provides the secretariat for EAOO
Copyright The European Academy of Optometry and Optics, 42 Craven Street, London, WC2N 5NG
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7839 6000 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7839 6800
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7839 6000 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7839 6800
