October 14th - World Sight Day

World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness held on the second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on vision impairment, including blindness. This year, World Sight Day will take place on October 14, 2021 with the theme: Love Your Eyes.

Globally, at least 1 billion people have near or distance vision impairment that could be prevented or has yet to be addressed. Vision impairment affects people of all ages, with the majority being over the age of 50. Vision impairment and blindness can have major and long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily personal activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities and the ability to access public services.

Facts:

• 1.1 billion people experience vision loss primarily because they do not have access to eye care services;
• Over 90% of those with vision loss live in low- and middle-income countries;
• 73% of people with vision loss are over 50 years old;
• 55% of people with vision loss are women;
• The number of people with vision loss will rise from 1.1 billion to 1.7 billion people by 2050, mainly due to population growth and population ageing;
• Over 90% of vision loss could have been prevented;
• The leading causes of vision loss include: uncorrected refractive error, unoperated cataracts, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy;
• Poor eye health leads to an increased risk (up to 2.6 times) of mortality;
• Children with a vision impairment are up to 5 times less likely to be in formal education and often achieve poorer outcomes;
• Vast inequities exist in the distribution of vision impairment: the prevalence in many low- and middle-income regions is estimated to be four times higher than in high-income regions;
• The burden tends to be greater in rural areas and for older people, women, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities and indigenous populations.

("Love Your Eyes - World Sight Day 2021". SevaCanada, 2021)

More information:

WHO official page

The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

World report on vision