Optician Online – In Focus: Eye health sector unites for World Sight Day

Charities, researchers and organisations have concentrated their efforts on eye care in young people this World Sight Day 2024 (October 10). 

This year’s theme, ‘Love Your Eyes,’ focused on the unique needs of children’s vision and eye health. 

Escalating risks to children’s eye health have emphasised the need for early intervention said World Sight Day organisers, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). 

It noted that with a growing number of sight conditions in children and many lacking access to affordable eye care, child eye health has become a top priority. 

IAPB initiatives

The IAPB, its member organisations and Prevent Blindness have partnered on initiatives around the world in support of World Sight Day. 

Prevent Blindness planned a series of events, including a vision screening and eye health education event and a congressional briefing in Washington DC.

The organisation also teamed up with the National Association of School Nurses to provide a World Sight Day toolkit. 

In addition, it put together a back to school night promotion to educate parents on children’s vision problems with screening events and a request for local and state legislation changes.

In collaboration with the Truffles the Kitty organisation, Prevent Blindness posted eye health messages to social media, encouraging patching for amblyopia and more general guidance for children’s healthy vision.

Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, said: ‘World Sight Day provides a great opportunity to align with our partners all across the globe to collectively elevate discussions and bring awareness to the importance of healthy vision and the need for access to eye care for all, especially for our children.’

Uncorrected vision outcomes

Research by the IAPB and the Seva Foundation found that without glasses, children with poor eyesight learnt half as much as their classmates with good vision acuity.

Researchers said that every day, 17.8 million children around the world attended school with uncorrected vision. Children with uncorrected refractive errors were unable to read from blackboards and books, effectively missing out on learning.

The data showed this amounted to 6.3 million years of lost learning globally with a future economic productivity loss of $173bn every year. 

Half this learning loss, researchers estimated, could be avoided with more eye tests and glasses, and another half by ensuring that children wore their glasses when they needed them.

The study also found early intervention to improve a child’s vision in school could increase their lifetime earnings by up to 78%.  

Peter Holland, chief executive officer at the IAPB, said: ‘Early intervention, regular eye checks and access to good quality eye care and glasses are critical to unlocking education opportunities and children’s future economic potential.’

School eye health

Sightsavers eye health policy advisor Fiona Lawless and eye health deputy technical director Sumrana Yasmin discussed how school eye health programmes were key to helping children fulfil their potential and build confidence.

Lawless and Yasmin said school eye health programmes were effective solutions for delivering eye care to school-aged children and were time, cost and resource-efficient.

They added that research had shown that eye tests in schools positively impacted attendance, academic performance and learning outcomes. However, these had to be accompanied by broader systems strengthening to ensure that children needing further treatment could receive it.

‘There is still a long way to go and we need a concerted effort to achieve scale by working together and sharing the learning,’ they said.

Highlighting optical stories

Zeiss Medical Technology and Zeiss Vision Care celebrated some of the work of healthcare organisations around the world who have provided donations and education to champion better eye health.

Zeiss said it had been a long-standing supporter of World Sight Day, promoting contributions to eye and vision care for people around the world. 

This year, it highlighted stories of eye health efforts on a dedicated World Sight Day area on its website. Zeiss’s mission had been to provide eye care professionals with everything they needed to deliver the best possible eye and vision care.

Euan Thomson, president of ophthalmology business and head of the digital business unit at Zeiss Medical Technology, said: ‘We have long held a deep commitment to supporting the mission of World Sight Day and the vital efforts of ophthalmologists around the world who are helping to improve the vision and eye health of children.’

Asia Vision centres project

Modo Eyewear has collaborated with Seva Foundation to establish vision centres in Nepal and India with the aim of providing over a million people with the best possible eye care by 2025.

The project, which started in 2022 and is expected to come to full fruition by 2025, will see the establishment of 14 vision centres in Nepal and India.

Modo said these centres would provide over one million people with access to sustainable, high-quality and affordable eye care services, including eye exams and follow-up care. 

Modo’s support covered training, infrastructure and the provision of equipment to these centres, making eye care more accessible to underserved populations, particularly women and children.

CBeebies special feature

A special CBeebies Bedtime Story aired on World Sight Day featuring Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Edinburgh who read Yasmin Ismail’s Specs for Rex.

The story, about a young lion who embraced his new glasses, impressed upon children that wearing glasses was fun and essential for school, play and safety.

CBeebies Bedtime Story formed part of IAPB’s efforts to ensure children and their parents understood the importance of eye health, regular eye checks and breaking down the stigma associated with wearing glasses and eye patches.

In a trailer for the CBeebies programme, HRH said: ‘World Sight Day is a reminder to all of us to take care of our eyes, whether we need glasses or not. 

‘Our eyes are precious, and our sight is something to cherish and look after. So, let’s remember to take care of our eyes this World Sight Day.’

IAPB spokesperson Simon Darvill remarked: ‘We’re thrilled to have CBeebies and HRH the Duchess of Edinburgh shine a spotlight on children’s eye health for World Sight Day. We hope that this special story will engage millions of families and encourage people to book that all important sight test.’

Sight loss statistics

Apellis’s new survey of more than 2,000 UK adults found that one in two people expected to experience sight loss in the next 10 years.

This was despite an overwhelming majority of adults (90%) valuing sight as their most important sense. 

Charles Colquhoun, CEO at the Thomas Pocklington Trust, a national sight loss charity, noted: ‘Given some causes of sight loss have the potential to progress in just a few weeks, it is concerning that one in three people would wait over a month to seek help. More dialogue and awareness, as well as regular eye checks, are vital.’ 

Paul Cox, general manager at Apellis, added: ‘A significant proportion expect some form of sight loss in their future, which need not be the case. The good news is that sight loss is not an inevitable part of ageing and support is available.’

Meanwhile, The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has predicted that there will be a 27% rise in the number of people living with sight loss in the UK by 2035.

This World Sight Day, the RNIB has called on the UK government to implement a national eye care plan to prevent avoidable sight loss and fix delays in eye care. 

This followed new research by the RNIB that found an estimated 2.8 million people across the UK will be living with sight loss in the next 11 years, equating to a 27% increase since 2022.

It also predicted a 29% rise in the number of people in the UK with severe sight loss or registered blind.

RNIB CEO Matt Stringer said: ‘Prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of common sight conditions are key to reduce the number of people who will experience sight loss in their lifetime.’

He also urged the UK public to get their eyes tested regularly, stating: ‘They’re essential for everyone, even if you think your eyesight is fine.’

InnoScot innovation support

NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health has supported this year’s World Sight Day aim of early intervention for vision issues through innovative approaches that could be ‘life-changing’.

Head of innovation at InnoScot Health, Robert Rea (pictured) said: ‘We believe our ophthalmologists can play their part by using their surgical expertise to identify where issues in delivery lie while offering innovative solutions.’

The organisation has offered innovation support to NHS Scotland staff through its ophthalmology call, seeking innovations that could improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention. 

‘We are highly experienced in helping progressive thinkers find their way and achieve their ambitions in rapidly evolving ophthalmology,’ Rea added.

InnoScot Health has also sought out funding for projects, helping to share opportunities and tailor applications.