‘Gender and Eye Health – Equal Access to Care’ is this year’s theme of World Sight Day that is observed annually on the second Thursday of October to focus attention on the global issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment.
The global key messages for World Sight Day 2009 (WSD09) state that nearly two-thirds of blind people worldwide are women and girls, and in many places, men have twice the access to eye care compared to women. Equal access to eye care could substantially reduce blindness in poor countries, and simple and effective strategies can successfully address this inequity within VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, the messages state.
According to the World Health Organisation, 80 per cent of blindness was avoidable – either treatable, curable or preventable. Ninety per cent of blind people live in low-income countries. Cataract is the leading cause of blindness and 80 lakh people worldwide are blind due to uncorrected refractive errors, according to a communication from the Joseph Eye Hospital.
Taking cues from the World Health Organisation, and VISION 2020 – a global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness – the Joseph Eye Hospital, Tiruchi will organise an eye screening programme for women and children on October 8.
Patients will be screened for determining basic visual defects and refraction; Glaucoma; Diabetic Retinopathy and Cataract.
