CBM marks World Sight Day 2008

Approximately 314 million people suffer serious vision impairment. Of these, 45 million people are blind and 124 million have low vision. But 75 per cent of blindness is avoidable through treatment and prevention. CBM’s blindness work concentrates on the 90 per cent of vision impaired people living in developing countries.

For such people, regaining lost vision means more than just seeing again. It means regaining life, livelihood and the world around them. For this reason, CBM actively supports the International Agency for Preventable Blindness’s Vision 2020, a global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness launched jointly with the World Health Organization.
 
On World Sight Day, CBM and other VISION 2020 members, including professional associations, eye care institutions and corporations, work together to:

Blindness and vision impairment are a major international public health issue. Every five seconds, someone in the world goes needlessly blind. Together, VISION 2020 member organisations work to prevent, treat and cure the conditions that lead to blindness and vision impairment, and to help those with unavoidable blindness achieve their full potential.
 
Allen Foster, CBM president, said: World Sight Day reminds us all of the ongoing need to restore sight to those who have curable blindness. CBM is committed to use its human and financial resources to enable our partners worldwide to provide preventive, medical and rehabilitation services for people with visual disability."


 

The theme of World Sight Day 2008 is the ageing eye.
 
The risk of many vision-impairing conditions increases exponentially in later life. 80 per cent of the world’s 45 million blind people are over 50. The great majority of blind people live in low-income countries, where older people, and especially older women, face many barriers to getting the eye health care they need.
 
Yet many age-related blinding conditions can be simply and cheaply treated or cured, and timely intervention can often delay or reduce the effects. The main blinding conditions affecting older people are cataract, refractive error, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma.
 
Older people are important members of families and communities. World Sight Day reminds us that the Right to Sight has no age limit.

“It happened quickly, much faster than I expected. Action helped to speed everything up. I feel much safer in my home now. I have my own front door and I am in control again!” George, UK
 
“Being able to read the newspaper again has made me feel more at home in the world, and now I can get around more easily, I feel confident and happy doing every day things like I used to.” Mohammed, Saudi Arabia
 
“While I was blind I couldn’t see my children; now I can see them I love them so very much.” Krim Yum, Cambodia
 
“I was overjoyed to get the surgery. Now, I see, I see! I can see very well.” Josephine, Rwanda