Optometry Giving Sight launches children’s vision campaign

Optometry Giving Sight co-hosted the official launch of the Our Children’s Vision Campaign at the Australian Consulate in New York, just prior to Vision Expo East, according to a press release from the group.

The Brien Holden Vision Institute and the Vision for Life fund, created by Essilor, initiated the global campaign, which seeks to bring together governments, development agencies, the private sector, eye health practitioners and communities with the goal of screening 50 million children worldwide for vision impairments by 2020, according to the release.

Recent research from the Brien Holden Vision Institute indicates that by 2050 half of the world’s population, 4.76 billion people, will suffer from myopia, and most will need eyeglasses.

“We are potentially facing the biggest public health challenge of our generation,” Prof. Kovin Naidoo, CEO, Brien Holden Vision Institute and campaign director for Our Children’s Vision, said in the release.

To date, Optometry Giving Sight announced that 34 international and national organizations have joined Our Children’s Vision.