World Sight Day 2018
After successful trachoma surgery at a Trachoma Outreach camp at Nsinze health centre in Namutumba, Uganda, Babiwemba is led from operating theatre to recovery room by District Ophthalmic Clinical Officer James Murambwe.
© CBM/Trenchard
World Sight Day, celebrated this year on Oct 11, is an annual day of awareness around blindness and visual impairment.
What is World Sight Day?
The rolling theme for the World Sight Day is ‘Universal Eye Health’. The ‘Call to Action’ this World Sight Day is ‘Eye Care Everywhere’. 80% of the world’s blind are avoidably so. On this day, NGOs, DPOs and civil organisations all come together to raise public awareness of blindness & vision impairment as major international public health issues and also influence Governments and Ministers of Health to participate in and designate funds for national blindness prevention programmes.
Celebrate World Sight Day 2018 with CBM
Our work in Neglected Tropical Diseases
In September 2018 CBM participated in the annual NTD NGDO Meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which was attended by over 500 global participants. CBM’s delegation actively contributed to sessions, which included the following topics: stigma and mental well-being, working in conflict settings, disease management, disability and inclusion, behaviour change, integration of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), cross-sectoral partnerships and transition and sustainability planning to support health systems as funded programmes end. Additionally, we hosted a pre-meeting for NTD affected people to strengthen active participation of affected people as a human right. We also took the opportunity to launch our CBM NTD Report 2018 at the conference. Read more about this conference here.
Download our Reports
CBM NTD Report 2018
More than 1 billion people – one-sixth of the world’s population – are affected by one or more neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and another 2 billion people are at risk, mainly in the tropics and sub-tropics. Take a look at our Neglected Tropical Diseases 2018 Report for more information about our work with NTDs.
Inclusive Eye Health
‘Inclusion Made Easy in Eye Health Programs’ is designed for program staff in international development organisations. It is a brief, practical guide on how to ensure eye-health programs are disability-inclusive.
CBM partner conducting a follow-up visit after a trachoma surgery at an outreach camp in Uganda.
CBMCBM plays an important role in making Ghana Trachoma free
This year Ghana became the first African country to eliminate the leading infectious cause of blindness. CBM was involved in the very beginning of trachoma control in the West African country by supporting training, funding outreach programmes and contributing to research. Read this article for more information on our work in Ghana.
First treatments for blinding trachoma distributed in war-torn Yemen
Antibiotics to treat the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness were delivered to thousands of people living in remote corners of war-torn Yemen for the first time ever in May 2018. More than 444,000 doses of the drug Zithromax®, donated by pharmaceutical company Pfizer, were driven by local health officials through conflict zones where trachoma - a painful but preventable eye disease - remains prevalent. The distribution was the result of global collaboration between the Yemen Ministry of Health and other NGOs including CBM. Read more here.
CBM and Pakistan to tackle blindness together
CBM has been working very actively with the government in Pakistan to prevent blindness for over forty years. This year, in partnership with Peek Vision and the Pakistan Government, we committed to delivering eye health services to more people across the country, including the poorest and most remote communities, making progress towards a time when nobody is needlessly blind. Read more about this initiative here.
Childhood blindness in Nigeria
This year we launched a three-year intervention programme to prevent childhood blindness and visual impairment in Nigeria. 1.5 million children in 11 States of Nigeria are expected to benefit from the new programme, which will improve access to sight-saving eye health services through a wide range of activities, including training health and community workers, funding treatment and providing glasses and low vision devices. Read this article to know more.
Miracles Day in Australia
Every August, CBM Australia rallies around an exciting event: the annual Miracles Day appeal, focused on giving the gift of sight-saving surgery for people living with cataracts for only AUD$32.
CBM Australia runs Miracles Day in partnership with Australian Christian radio stations. These radio stations travel to CBM supported project sites with CBM staff and have the opportunity to witness cataract surgery and the incredible moment sight is restored.
This year, the radio teams broadcast live from CBM projects in Vietnam on 16 August and encouraged Australians to call CBM or donate online. A record-breaking 38,651 Miracles were raised during Miracles Day 2018. “This record-breaking result is an incredible reflection of Australia’s heart and passion for helping others through CBM’s work,” said Sophie Plumridge, CBM Australia’s Director of Fundraising and Communications, who also travelled to Vietnam as part of the Miracles Day campaign.