World Sight Day 2023 highlights importance of eye care in workplace
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NEW ORLEANS — Thousands of eye care professionals have convened for Academy ’23, as the community joins to recognize World Sight Day on Oct. 12.
This year the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) is focusing on prioritizing eye health and protecting vision in the workplace with the theme, “Love Your Eyes at Work.”
According to a report from the International Labor Organization and IAPB, more than 13 million people worldwide live with vision impairment related to their work, and an estimated 3.5 million eye injuries occur in the workplace annually.
This World Sight Day, the IAPB is encouraging employers and business leaders to promote eye health habits at work and provide quality eye care to all employees. The agency also invites individuals, organizations and eye care professionals to join the #LoveYourEyes pledge, with a goal of 10 million sight test pledges.
Several eye care organizations have joined this year’s campaign, including Optometry Giving Sight (OGS), which announced a $500,000 fundraising goal for its World Sight Day challenge. Donations will be collected throughout the month of October and will fund efforts to eliminate uncorrected refractive error and expand optometry services worldwide.
“Every dollar donated allows us to fund sustainable initiatives that provide life-changing eye care to people, families and communities around the world,” Lois Schoenbrun, OGS’s executive director, said in an organization press release.
The group will host a booth in the Academy ’23 exhibit hall where attendees can participate in fundraising activities.
Prevent Blindness also has joined the campaign and will host a World Sight Day Congressional briefing and vision screening event on Capitol Hill to raise awareness about disparities in access to eye care and coverage policies.
“This World Sight Day, we call upon employers to examine the benefits they offer their employees, insurers to consider expanding their vision and eye health offerings, and federal and state policy makers to prioritize our nation’s eye health and safety in their health care policy actions,” Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, said in an organization press release.
In addition, the World Council of Optometry released a statement from its president emphasizing the importance of comprehensive eye care during this annual event.
“The evidence is clear that when a worker who is properly corrected demonstrates performance that far exceeds their ability when compared to output prior to being properly corrected for a visual impairment,” Sandra S. Block, OD, MEd, MPH, FAAO, FCOVD, FNAP, said. “World Sight Day is a great time to highlight the importance of talking to your patients, the members of your community, family and friends about the value of obtaining an eye exam.”
References:
- Eye health and the world of work. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/resources-library/publications/WCMS_892937/lang--en/index.htm. Published Sept. 5, 2023. Accessed Oct. 11, 2023.
- Optometry Giving Sight sets $500,000 fundraising goal for the 2023 World Sight Day challenge. https://givingsight.org/news/500000-fundraising-goal-for-2023-wsdc/. Published Oct. 5, 2023. Accessed Oct. 9, 2023.
- Prevent Blindness joins 2023 World Sight Day global initiative to “Love Your Eyes at Work,” calling on employers, insurers and policy makers to consider how they can contribute to improved access to vision and eye health care. https://preventblindness.org/2023-world-sight-day/. Published Sept. 18, 2023. Accessed Oct. 9, 2023.
- Prevent Blindness to host “World Sight Day” congressional briefing and free vision screening on Capitol Hill. https://preventblindness.org/events/world-sight-day-2023-briefing/. Published Oct. 6, 2023. Accessed Oct. 10, 2023.
- World Council of Optometry president’s statement for World Sight Day 2023. Published Oct. 10, 2023. Accessed Oct. 10, 2023.
- World Sight Day 2023. https://www.iapb.org/world-sight-day/#make-a-pledge. Accessed Oct. 11, 2023.
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