08 October 2020 –
This year, World Sight Day is to be held on Thursday 8th October 2020. This annual event, which is always held on the second Thursday of October, is aiming to draw attention to a range of issues surrounding blindness and visual impairment. It is seen as one of the most important communication and advocacy events on the eye health calendar.
Initially started by the Lions Club International Foundation as part of the Sight First campaign in the year 2000, World Sight Day is now coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) under the VISION 2020 global initiative which aims to promote a world in which nobody is needlessly visually impaired.
The main aims of World Sight Day include:
• To Raise public awareness of issues surrounding blindness and visual impairment.
To influence Governments, and in particular Health Ministers to participate in and donate funds to blindness prevention programmes.
To educate about blindness prevention.
To generate support for Vision 2020 programme and activities.