World Sight Day
A child goes blind every minute.
The majority live in developing countries and less than half of all children who lose their sight in the developing world will survive to adulthood.
World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness, the aim of which is to focus global attention on blindness and visual impairment.
This year's World Sight Day is focusing on childhood blindness. Sightsavers works to ensure that children with eye conditions across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean are identified and treated at the earliest opportunity. If their blindness is irreversible Sightsavers works with local partners to include them in mainstream education, as 90% of children who are blind don't go to school.
Sightsavers is combating blindness by supporting community based programmes that reach people who don’t have access to eye health services. Children in Bachuo Akagbe in Cameroon have attended a community programme where they will be checked for existing or potential eye problems. With the help of Sightsavers and their partners, these children are being given all the help they need to avoid blindness, enabling them to lead happy and independent lives.
To find out more about World Sight Day or Sightsavers’ work please visit
http://www.sightsavers.org