2013 WSD Focuses on Universal Eye Health

Today marks this year's edition of the annual World Sight Day - a day set aside annually to raise awareness and take steps toward the prevention of avoidable blindness and the maintenance of good eye health. 


Held every second Thursday in October, the activities marking the day are often coordinated by the Vision 2020 right-to-sight global initiative and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness; it is also included in the World Health Organization’s official calendar.

The theme for this year, “Universal Eye Health”, focuses on Gender and Eye Health.

The theme aims to address the fact that nearly two-thirds of blind people worldwide are women and girls. In many places around the world, men have twice the access to eye care as women. The theme proposes equal access to eye care which could substantially reduce blindness in poor countries and also simple and effective strategies to successfully address this inequity within VISION 2020: The Right to Sight.

According to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness website:

“The Action Plan identifies its purpose as to ‘increasing access to comprehensive eye care services that are integrated into health systems’. The theme for World Sight Day 2013 comes from this focus. ‘Universal Eye Health’ embodies many critical aspects of successful eye health uptake, and so IAPB believes that we should use a rolling theme – ‘Universal Eye Health’ will remain the theme for the next couple of years. Each year, we will focus on one aspect of the theme to develop a “Call to Action”. 

For 2013, the call to action is: Get your Eyes Tested. The call to action recognizes a vital aspect of a successful and sustainable eye health network – an informed and regular end-user base which accesses eye care services at different points, based on need, age and other such factors”

In line with this initiative, various eye clinics are carrying out free eye screening services in different parts of the country. One of such places according to our reporter in Owerri, South Eastern Nigeria, is Pizons Eyecare Associates located at #1 MCC Road, off Wetheral Road, Owerri.

You can follow this year’s event with the twitter hashtags #WSD and #WSD13