World Sight Day - Taking care of our vision
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October 18, 2021
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People all over the world celebrate World Sight Day on the second Thursday of October. This global event raises awareness of blindness, visual impairments, and prevention methods.
History
The Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF) established World Sight Day in 2000 as a part of the SightFirst Campaign. It was then incorporated into VISION 2020, a global initiative that has since grown and been "built upon by a series of additional plans." Every year, events commemorating World Sight Day are organized by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
Causes
Did you know that 90% of people with vision impairments live in developing countries and that 66% are over the age of 50? Additionally, visual impairment affects a significant 19 million children. Many of these cases are preventable and treatable.
There are a few common causes of avoidable blindness. Among them are the following:
- Uncorrected refractive errors include nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and other refractive errors.
- Cataracts & Glaucoma left untreated
- Diabetes-related retinopathy
Prevention
Our eyesight is harmed for a variety of reasons, including constant exposure to digital screens, work pressure, and poor eating habits. And we constantly fail to prioritize our eye health in today's stressful world.
Furthermore, during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, our eyes have been working overtime. We've been stuck indoors, in front of our screens, and have missed our regular eye checkups. We need to protect and prioritize our vision now more than ever.
There are few corrective steps you can take to protect your vision and avoid blindness:
- Take a break from the screen: As per the 20-20-20 rule, people should look away from their screens every 20 minutes for 20 seconds and stare at something about 20 feet away.
- Regular eye checkups: Early detection is a great way to avoid vision loss in the future.
- Quit smoking and drinking alcohol: Both of these can increase your chances of getting cataracts and other vision problems.
- Wear safety glasses: Preventing eye injury is a significant step toward preventing vision loss.
- Healthy food: Foods that are antioxidant-rich, that contain vitamins C and E, certain carotenoids, as well as zinc and copper, help to prevent eye degeneration.
- Eye exercise: Rolling our eyes, heating our palms and then placing them over our eyes, and lightly massaging our eyes with our thumbs energizes and reduces fatigue in our eye muscles.
Let's take a pledge to take care of our eyesight and work towards a better vision.