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Gender inequality in eye care focus of this year's World Sight Day
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With nearly two-thirds of those who are blind worldwide either women or girls, the theme of today's World Sight Day 2009 is "Gender and eye health — equal access to care."
"In many places, men have twice the access to eye care as women," a release from Vision 2020 said. "Equal access to eye care could substantially reduce blindness in poor countries. Simple and effective strategies can and do successfully address this inequity within Vision 2020: The Right to Sight."
Held the second Thursday every October, World Sight Day brings awareness to global blindness and visual impairment issues. It is included on the official World Health Organization calendar and is coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and the Vision 2020 Global Initiative.
The day is designed to not only bring awareness to blindness and vision impairment issues, but also to alert governments and health ministers to the need for funding for national blindness prevention programs.