Guest Blog: World Sight Day 2024 Shines a Global Light on Children’s Eye Care
Jeff Todd, President and CEO, Prevent Blindness
At Prevent Blindness, our primary focus is on eye health in the United States. However, we also recognize the significance of our role in addressing global eye health challenges. This is why, each fall, we join the International Agency to Prevent Blindness (IAPB), its member organizations, and partners to commemorate World Sight Day—a global reminder of the importance of eye health and the steps needed to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has access to the vision care they need. While World Sight Day falls on the second Thursday of October (this year, October 10), we use the entire month leading up to it to raise awareness about this vital campaign.
World Sight Day serves as a reminder that vision health is fundamental to overall well-being, yet it is often overlooked in both national and global health conversations. This is especially true for children, who rely heavily on their vision to learn, grow, and thrive. Vision problems in children are not only treatable but also often preventable, making it essential to take proactive measures to protect their sight. This is why the IAPB has devoted World Sight Day 2024 to the youngest among us.
In alignment with this year’s theme, Prevent Blindness is proud to introduce our new U.S. Children’s Vision Health Map. Developed in collaboration with our partners at NORC at the University of Chicago using the CDC’s Vision and Eye Health Surveillance System, this tool offers an unprecedented look at children’s vision health at the county and state levels. It provides valuable insights for healthcare providers, public health professionals, and policymakers, helping them identify disparities in access to care and informing targeted policy solutions. Users can explore different visual health indicators, apply filters, or explore relationships between vision health and community-level characteristics such as state vision screening requirements, academic performance, and health and disability measures.
Another significant development for children’s vision health is the recent release of a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine titled Myopia: Causes, Prevention, and Treatment of an Increasingly Common Disease. The report highlights the rising global prevalence of myopia, which has reached epidemic levels. The United States is not immune to this trend. Among its recommendations, the report urges the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in collaboration with state departments of education, to ensure that children receive vision screenings before first grade and comprehensive eye exams when needed. It also calls for the creation of a national data surveillance system to track vision screening outcomes, referrals to eye care providers and the results, and other relevant demographic data.
At Prevent Blindness, we are committed to addressing the myopia crisis through education and advocacy. Untreated myopia in children can lead to severe vision loss later in life, including conditions like retinal detachment and glaucoma. That’s why we are intensifying our efforts to ensure that parents, educators, and policymakers understand the urgency of early detection and intervention for all children’s eye health problems.
One of the ways we are advancing this cause is by advocating for the Early Detection of Vision Impairments for Children (EDVI) Act of 2024. This critical legislation aims to expand access to vision care, particularly for children in underserved communities. The EDVI Act will provide essential funding for vision screening programs, research, and public awareness campaigns, reducing the barriers that prevent so many from receiving the care they need.
By supporting this legislation—alongside nearly 100 other organizations across the country—we are taking concrete steps to ensure that children’s vision health is prioritized in national public health efforts.
As we reflect on this year’s World Sight Day theme, “Love Your Eyes,” we invite you to join Prevent Blindness in our commitment to children’s vision health. Whether it’s through supporting the EDVI Act, advocating for equitable access to care, or simply ensuring that the children in your life receive regular eye care, we all have a role to play in protecting sight. Together, we can ensure a brighter, clearer future for all.
Jeff Todd is Chairperson of the National Health Council (NHC) Board of Directors. Prevent Blindness is a member of the NHC. For more information about NHC membership, click here.
