World Sight Day (WSD) is an annual opportunity to talk about the importance of comprehensive eye care – and a reminder for eye health professionals to get their own eyes checked, according to World Council of Optometry President Dr Sandra S. Block.
For this year’s WSD, held on 12 October, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness chose the focus of the importance of eye care in working adults.
In an open letter to mark WSD, Dr Block said that “a worker who is properly corrected” for visual acuity “demonstrates performance that far exceeds their ability when compared to output prior to being properly corrected for a visual impairment”.
“Glasses are the most common intervention to address the enormous magnitude of preventable vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive error.
I recently visited my personal optometrist… please do not forget eye care providers need to get checked too!
But she said vision correction is only one step in addressing good vision and eye health.
“There are many visual conditions that if left undiagnosed and untreated can lead to vision loss that may not be reversable,” she said.
The World Council of Optometry strongly recommends that adults have a full eye exam to ensure that there are no underlying vision or eye health problems that may need additional care such as cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy.
“Several studies have demonstrated that people as they age are more afraid of losing their sight than losing any other sense. Often, loss of vision has led to an increase in loss of independence, depression, and potentially earlier mortality.
“Let’s take the preventative approach together. A quick visit to the optometrist can be a way to stay healthy with good vision… I recently visited my personal optometrist… please do not forget eye care providers need to get checked too!”
