Today, we celebrate World Sight Day with the theme; "Love your eyes"
It is an annual day of awareness held every second Thursday of October, to focus global attention on visual impairment, including blindness.
Globally, at least 1 billion people have near or distance visual impairment that could be prevented or has yet to be addressed. Visual impairment affects people of all ages, with the majority being over the age of 50.
What is Visual Impairment?
Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment or vision loss, is a decreased ability to see to a degree that causes problems that cannot be fixed by usual means, such as glasses. Some also include those who have a decreased ability to see because they do not have access to glasses or contact lenses.
Visual impairment and blindness can have major and long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily personal activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities and the ability to access public services.
Causes of Visual Impairment:
Un-operated cataract and uncorrected refractive error are the leading causes of vision impairment.
Other causes include;
age-related macular degeneration
glaucoma
diabetic retinopathy
infectious diseases of the eye
trauma
This year's theme is all about being aware of your own eye health and being able to get a sight test or recommend others do the same.
So, one could ask, how do you love your eyes? There are simple ways to go about this;
1.) Prevent: Many eye diseases can be prevented by;
a) Eating a balanced diet.
b) Maintaining a healthy weight.
c) Cutting down on smoking and drinking
2.) Protecting and taking care of your eyes by;
a) Using good quality sunglasses
b) Maintain good care and cleaning regimen with the use of make-up and eye cosmetics
c) Cutting down on screen time and taking regular breaks from the use of gadgets.
3.) Preserve your eyes by;
a) Planning for and getting a regular comprehensive eye examination.
4.) Prioritize your eye health by;
a) Getting your eyes examined once every two years.
b) Keeping up with the schedule for your eye treatment if you have an existing eye disease.
With all these in check, there is a need for public awareness in order to reduce the risks of having visual impairment.
Therefore, it is important to Love your Eyes!
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