The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday celebrates World Sight Day to raise awareness about different types of visual affections and treatments, preventing patients from totally losing their ability to see.
Geneva.- According to WHO, there are approximately 180 million people worldwide with some type of visual impairment, 40 and 45 million of them are blind.
It is estimated that these numbers will double by next year in such a way that blindness in the world as well as the right to have good visual health will become a human right.
In 2023, the date – set in conjunction with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) – focuses on developing the slogan: “Love your eyes at work."
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The most recent studies show that 80% of all cases of blindness could have been prevented and even completely cured. 20% of them could be avoided, while another 60% percent might be treated or even received a surgical intervention providing patients with a better quality of life and even restoring this sense completely.
Among the most common surgeries that are usually done for visual health are cataract surgery, trachoma prevention, distribution of ivermectin to treat onchocerciasis, and immunization against measles.
Also, the distribution of vitamin A supplements to prevent blindness in children and corrective lenses.
In 1999, the World Health Organization, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and other UN organizations implemented the Vision 2020 program that seeks to eliminate all possible cases of avoidable blindness by 2020 and to ensure that no one in the world is blinded by a condition that can be cured, operated on or even corrected.
Some 40 countries around the globe have approved this program and seek to improve the quality of life of millions of women, children, and men who suffer from visual impairment condition.
WHO statistics show that most blind people worldwide come from developing countries and nearly all belong to the lowest strata of society.
Nine million blind people live in India, seven million in Africa, and six million in China.
In the same way, the numbers show that apart from poverty, another determining factor is gender, since the majority of blind people are women.
The third factor is age, as the number of children who go blind because they are not given the necessary care or vaccinated in time to prevent vision loss is increasing. (PL)
