World Sight Day
World Sight Day (WSD) is dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of eye health, vision impairment, and blindness around the globe. It is run by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and their global partners. It takes place on the second Thursday in October every year, so this year WSD is on October 9th.
This year’s theme for WSD of #LoveYourEyes encourages regular eye exams, preventive eye care, and treatment of eye conditions in a timely manner. Vision loss can often be slowed or prevented through early detection. This year WSD will also bring the importance of eye exams to political leaders and policymakers, in order to make eye care services available to all. Protecting our sight is a community effort, not just a personal priority. Finally, this year WSD will highlight that every story counts: gathering and sharing stories of those affected by avoidable vision loss in order to educate others on the importance of regular and timely eye care.
These initiatives are important because healthy vision supports quality of life, learning, and independence for all individuals. For children, healthy vision is vital for their development and learning. The top causes of vision loss in low-income and middle-income countries include cataracts, uncorrected refractive error, and glaucoma. We are fortunate to have access to regular eye care in Canada to help mitigate these and other types of vision loss.
For all these reasons, please schedule your next eye exam. For children (starting at 6-12 months) and for seniors above age 65, eye exams should be every year. For adults 19-65, eye exams should be every two years. Remind your family members and friends to also schedule their eye exams, and join the community effort to #LoveYourEyes.
To support our local community and the efforts of IAPB to raise awareness about eye health this year, Armstrong Optometry is: donating $5 from every frame sold in October, hosting a bake sale with proceeds going towards WSD, and giving any donations from staff and patients to IAPB.
Dr. Talisa Dennis, OD