Like every year, the second Thursday of October is World Sight Day, sponsored by the World Health Organisation and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness - IAPB, together with the World Blind Union and supported by almost 200 organisations worldwide.
Established for the first time in 1998, thanks to a collaboration between the Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO), last year’s initiative brought some excellent results: more than 6 million people had an eye test done.
Confirmed also for 2023, the campaign #loveyoureyes, conceived both to encourage people to take care of their eye health, and to raise awareness on over one billion people in the world who have lost their sight when it could have been prevented and who do not have access to ophthalmic services.
The focus of the 2023 campaign
This year’s campaign focuses on the workplace, encouraging employers to have their employees’ eyesight checked, to make eyecare initiatives a standard practice, and to promote visual habits that will improve the wellness, safety and productivity of millions of employees.
A message from Peter Holland, CEO of the IAPB:
"World Sight Day has become an incredibly important date in the international calendar and shows that, when people work together, they can achieve extraordinary results. This year, we have shifted our focus to the workplace. The priority of employees’ eyecare must not be undervalued because good sight allows people to work better, in a safer way, and to carry out and keep their jobs. I urge all workplaces to guarantee their employees access to an eye test this October.”