World Sight Day

Love Your Eyes.

Over 1.1 billion people living with sight loss globally. In 90% of cases, it’s preventable or treatable but most people affected live in low- and middle-income countries, where access to basic eye care is often out of reach. 

Without treatment children fall behind in school, adults lose the ability to work, and entire communities are held back. The solution could be as simple as a pair of glasses, a 20-minute cataract operation, or a course of antibiotics that costs less than £1. 

The theme of Love Your Eyes for World Sight Day reminds us that sight is precious to each of us – and that everyone should have access to the eye care they need to thrive.

By coming together on World Sight Day, you are joining a movement to create a world where everyone has access to the eye care they need to thrive. 

Blindness and visual impairment from conditions like strabismus, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and retinopathy of prematurity can be entirely prevented or treated if caught early. Trachoma can be cured with a simple dose of antibiotics, and cataracts can be eliminated surgery taking as little as 20 minutes. These sight-saving interventions are within reach, yet millions today still suffer with sight loss and blindness unnecessarily.

With your support, Orbis and the eye health community are exchanging skills with eye health professionals all over the world and strengthening the quality of eye care systems in communities where it is needed the most. We can reduce blindness and visual impairment from avoidable causes, and the negative effects that come with it for generations.

World Sight Day is hosted by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness with a different theme each year to raise awareness of this important global health issue.