EYES are the most important part of a human body. It lets you cry when you’re sad and creates beautiful expressions when you’re glad. The eyes are at work from the moment we wake up to the moment we close them to go to sleep. They take in plenty of information about the world around us — shape, colours, movements etc. Then they send the information to our brain for processing so the brain knows what’s going on outside of our body. Today a tribute to those people who don’t have eyes.

‘World Sight Day’ as the name advocates, is a day that is devoted to pledging perfect vision for every human being on the globe. It is an occasion that receives universal attention every year. The World Sight Day initiative is organized under the Vision2020 global initiative. It is a global event that focuses to bring notice on blindness and vision impairment.

Statistics related to World Sight Day:

• 80% of 45 million blind people worldwide are over 50 years of age.
• A majority of the blind people, about 90%, live in nations where access to eye care is restricted.
• Out of the eye care services that are administered worldwide, it is known that women and girls receive barely 35% of the care while men and boy receive well over 64%.
• Women and girls make up over two thirds of the blind population worldwide.
• 80% of the world’s blindness can be avoided.

(Source: WHO)

World Sight Day in not organized on any particular date of the year. It is observed on the second Thursday of October each year. This year it is today i.e. 14^th October, 2010.

The reason was observed to launch a World Sight Day because of the above stated eye opening facts. Under the tag of World Sight Day many awareness programs can be started. Likewise an awareness program is created about blindness and vision impairment issues which are considered to be international public health concerns. Also to motivate health ministers and other government officials, as they understand the problems and take intense interest in listing possible solutions and assigning resources to fight for the cause. Another task can be to raise alertness and educate people about subject related to vision impairment and the significance of a 2020 Vision.

Activities undertaken on World Sight Day:

Every individual has his own way to honor World Sight Day.

• Some people plant trees in their local reaching areas to raise awareness.
• Some indulge in photography which is on international level and hosted by health agencies around the world.
• Very dedicated people called as activists distribute posters, bookmarks, booklets and other promotional material that helps raise awareness.
• They also visit schools and colleges in order to educate children about the threats of vision impairment.

Diseases under World Sight Day initiative:

• Cataract
• Trachoma
• Refractive error
• Low vision
• Glaucoma
• Diabetic Retinopathy

The major event taking place globally is:

Vision 2020 (www.vision2020.org):

VISION 2020 is the global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, a joint programme of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) with an international membership of NGOs, professional associations, eye care institutions and corporations.

The theme of World Sight Day 2010 (WSD10) is ‘Countdown to 2020’. VISION 2020: The Right to Sight has seen considerable progress in 10 years, but there is a great deal left to do, and only 10 years remaining to do it.

Eye care professionals, medical institutions, academic institutions, corporations etc. can help individuals by organizing free camps or knowledgeable seminars on eye sights.

Talking about our town Udaipur; Eye Donation camps are organized throughout the year and interested individual can go and register him/herself for donating the eyes. In order to contact any Eye Donation Center in Udaipur, we have two famous names:

1. Lions Eye Bank, Udaipur Phone number: 0294 2524255, 0294 2524256

2. Alakh Nayan Mandir Ashok Nagar, Udaipur Phone: 91-294-2413050, 2528895 E- Mail: info@alaknayanmandir.org

thumbnail image of eye is property of bobshaw