Diopta joined the celebration of World Sight Day, eye care’s most important advocacy event observed this year on 10 October, and supported WSD 2019 Call to Action – Vision First by providing free eye exams for local people.
According to data from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), we know that more than a billion people cannot see well, because they don’t have access to glasses. Other IAPB key facts reveal that 36 million people are blind, 217 million people have some kind of moderate or severe vision impairment, 55% of moderate or severely vision impaired people are women, more than 80% of vision impaired people live in low and middle-income countries, and finally more than 75% of the world’s vision-impaired are avoidably so.
The key to good eye health is early detection. You should have your eyes examined on a regular basis (annually) even if you think there’s nothing wrong with your vision. An eye exam involves a series of tests that are completely painless and take just a few short minutes.
The leading causes of visual impairment are uncorrected refractive errors, unoperated cataracts, and untreated glaucoma. Refractive errors include nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), presbyopia, and astigmatism. These eye care issues impact every age group and their well-being.
As a socially responsible company, Diopta has been working for a long time to raise public awareness of blindness and vision impairment as major public health issues. While we can’t prevent every possible scenario, being proactive about eye health can make a big difference.
When was the last time you got an eye exam? Use WSD as the perfect opportunity to make eye health a priority for you and the people you care about. Take an eye exam and encourage your family and friends to do the same. Don’t put your sight at risk because you’re too busy. There’s nothing more important than good health!
