ISLAMABAD: World Sight Day was observed on Thursday to raise awareness about blindness and vision impairment.
World sight day 2012 theme was "The Integrated Eye Care Team - Working Together to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness".
‘World Sight Day' as the name suggests, is a day that is dedicated to pledging perfect vision for every individual on earth. It is an event that receives global attention every year. The agencies involved help bring attention to vision related issues that are plaguing the world. The World Sight Day initiative is organized under the Vision 2020 global initiative.
The World Health Organization (WHO), which is the UN's directing and coordinating authority for health, and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) are actively involved in coordinating events and activities for World Sight Day.
Many communities, associations, and non-government organizations work together with WHO and IAPB to promote the day for the purposes to raise public awareness of blindness and vision impairment as major international public health issues, to influence governments, particularly health ministers, to participate in and designate funds for national blindness prevention programs and to educate target audiences about blindness prevention, about VISION 2020 and its activities, and to generate support for VISION 2020 program activities.
The world's population is ageing and people are living longer but blindness from chronic conditions is also rising, according to WHO. About 80 percent of the world's 45 million blind people are aged over 50 years.
About 90 percent of blind people live in low-income countries, where older people, especially older women, face barriers to getting the necessary eye health care.
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