In the year of 2002, the World Health Organization announced that around 40 to 45 million individuals are blind globally. These numbers were expected to skyrocket and double in the year of 2020.
Now, here we are in 2020 with 2.6 billion individuals dealing with myopia. Myopia is a condition where individuals experience nearsightedness. If Myopia is left unchecked, it could increase over the years and severely impact one’s vision – some severe conditions of Myopia can lead to blindness.
As for the older age group, ranging from 40-80 year olds, 76 million persons in 2020 itself, suffer from glaucoma. According to Mayo Clinic, glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness for people over the age of 60 and those who experience this condition have a damaged optic nerve that is essential for good vision.
Putting these numbers into perspective, we have a clear picture of what is currently happening globally. Now let’s take a look at this day dedicated to spreading awareness – #WorldSightDay2020. In hopes of publicly educating and learning new information, World Sight Day is a day dedicated to spreading awareness on blindness and visual impairment.
In 1999, with the help of 20 other organizations, the World Health Organization started a global initiative called Vision 2020 to help decrease the number of cases regarding blindness. Their mission statement states that most cases of visual impairment could be prevented or treated with the right medical response. However, medical care isn’t always accessible globally and if so, there are limited supplies and staff. The cost of such treatments are also another concern that not everyone can afford.
Now, let’s imagine living in a world where you cannot see. The ability to trust someone’s word for what you are not able to see is almost – unfathomable. Blindness is a condition that isn’t easy to live with, many changes and adaptations must be made to adjust to the everyday lifestyle.
World Sight Day falls on the 8th of October this year, and the importance of eye health including visual impairment and blindness should be an initiative everyone should be involved in. You can do your part by posting about facts from reliable sources regarding this global dilemma. Sometimes the sharing of information can spark and ignite some initiative in those around you. Everyone should have the right to good eye health and vision and the alarming part about all of this is that most of these cases could’ve been cured or treated if detected or taken care of earlier.
Something we can all take away from this initiative is that regular eye checkups are essential to ensuring good eye health. Eye care should also be taught about more in different institutions to inform people of all ages. Knowledge is a key trait to preventing and acknowledging many things around the world. There are many individuals who are unaware of eye conditions, and what may lead to blindness. This is why it is important to spread awareness and inform the public as much as we can about issues regarding blindness and eye health in general.
We can all do our part to reduce the amount of visual impairment and blindness cases around the world by learning and teaching others new information, spreading awareness and using our social media handles for a good cause. A simple share on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat could go a long way.
Let’s try to give everyone the opportunity to trust a world we can see.