CooperVision Raising Money for World Sight Day

Starting in October, U.S. contact lens wearers who purchase CooperVision lenses with rebate offers can donate a portion or all of their rebates to Optometry Giving Sight (OGS), and through October 31, CooperVision will match all rebate donations, according to a company press release. In addition, company’s worldwide employees are fundraising for OGS’s World Sight Day Challenge. CooperVision, its employees, and its parent The Cooper Companies have donated $100,000 towards Optometry Giving Sight’s World Sight Day Challenge in 2012 and 2013.

Giving Sight Gets $100K from CooperVision and Its Employees

CooperVision, Inc., has donated $100,000 to Optometry Giving Sight in support of the 2013 World Sight Day Challenge. Employees from more than 30 locations participated in a global fundraising campaign. They also raise fund by organizing local activities. The Cooper Companies, the parent company of CooperVision, matched employee donations. Read more.

Get Your Patients to Participate in World Sight Day

The Vistakon Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., (JJVCI) has launched a worldwide campaign asking people to "Take the #EyePledge" and promise to get their eyes tested in honor of World Sight Day, October 10. The #EyePledge includes two simple steps individuals can take to demonstrate their personal commitment to get an eye exam and raise awareness of the broader global cause:

• Take an "eye selfie" photo; and
• Post the photo through the Donate-A-Photo App by Johnson & Johnson with #EyePledge, or share on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #EyePledge, and promise to get your eyes tested. 

Participants also can use the Donate-A-Photo app to generate contributions to Sight for Kids. For every photo uploaded on behalf of Sight for Kids, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1, up to $30,000. Sight for Kids has provided free vision screenings to more than 17 million children in Asia Pacific since 2002. Participants can post up to one photo per day using the app, which is available from the App Store or Google Play.

Leadings Causes of Blindness/World Sight Day

With World Sight Day also on October 10th, Lenstore has been researching the prevalence of avoidable blindness and vision impairment around the world, and looking at the people most affected. To generate awareness of their findings, they have created an infographic on the state of the world’s eyesight. Read more.

AllAboutVision Ups Donations for World Sight Day Challenge

AllAboutVision is kicking off a new promotion to support Optometry Giving Sight. It will donate an additional $25 to any contribution made to the World Sight Day Challenge by practices listed in our free Practitioner Directory. That is enough for five people to receive an eye exam and glasses. Only donations made through AllAboutVision.com’s Online Contribution Form before October 31 apply. Eye care practices, and all members of the ophthalmic community, can participate in
the World Sight Day Challenge by hosting in-office fundraising events, collecting staff donations, or making personal contributions.

Looking for ODs to Teach/World Sight Day Challenge

VOSH/International and the Brien Holden Vision Institute Public Health Division are looking to build worldwide optometric education. So they--with the support of Optometry Giving Sight--are inviting North American ODs to serve as faculty and program development assistants in emerging optometric institutions. The group is seeking optometrists with an interest in the academia required for recently established optometry programs aimed at the delivery of eye care delivery in developing countries. The successful candidate will be required to assume the position for a minimum duration of two years (reviewable after year one) and relocate within a reasonable time once a position becomes available. VOSH/International will review applications with final selection and placement by the Brien Holden Vision Institute. Read more.

The initiative was announced as Optometry Giving Sight launched its annual World Sight Day Challenge.

Older Europeans Worried about Going Blind

"E-FAB (European Forum Against Blindness) marks World Sight Day with a call to prevent avoidable blindness which remains a significant problem in Europe," notes Medical News Today. "A new survey of over 5,000 people across five EU countries reveals a level of concern and perceived need for better vision care services. As part of World Sight Day 2012, a survey across five EU countries reveals that over twice as many people are most concerned about developing sight loss compared to developing other conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and respiratory disease. In the survey, loss of vision was revealed as the primary health concern of ageing after memory loss. E-FAB (European Forum Against Blindness) has published the survey results to highlight that many Europeans are still needlessly losing their sight, and more needs to be done to diagnose vision problems earlier." Read more.

World Sight Day: Helping the World to See

Thursday, October 11th is World Sight Day, and two milestones have been reached.

The nonprofit health organization Seva Foundation is shining the spotlight has restored eyesight for more than 3 million people and created sustainable eye care programs. It notes that every five seconds someone around the world goes blind and 80% of blindness is preventable or curable.

Meanwhile more than 16 million children in Asia have received free vision screening through Sight for Kids, a partnership program with the Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF) now marking its 10th anniversary, according to Johnson & Johnson Vision Care. Sight for Kids has arranged to screen hundreds of students on World Sight Day, October 11 at a school in Bangkok. This event is part of an effort to screen another 1 million kids in six Asia Pacific countries during 2012 alone.

At the same time, Essilor Group and Lions Club International will finance free eye exams in three of Istanbul's hospitals. Essilor’s six partners in Turkey will also take action by launching a public awareness campaign on the importance of good vision, which will be kicked off on World Sight Day. In Asia, free eye exams will be organized, for example in Thailand, where employees from Essilor sites  will provide vision screenings and free corrective lenses for orphanages and underprivileged families. In China, employees will be involved in an awareness raising action at Essilor’s showroom dedicated to ophthalmic education, installed in the “Dragonland” mall, between Beijing and the Great Wall. In Latin America, Essilor teams in Brazil and Argentina will launch public awareness campaigns on the need for good vision, carried out by opticians and ophthalmological associations, and via social networks. In France, as part of its special partnership with Lions Club, volunteer teams from Essilor will accompany Lions Club teams in their information campaigns and free eye exam events in more than 20 cities. This year’s World Sight Day will be given a special boost by an artistic happening created for the general public: in Charenton-le-Pont, the Parisian suburb where Essilor’s headquarters are based, urban artist Manfred Stader will create an ephemeral, interactive 3D work on the theme of sight and better vision. In Germany, in association with frames manufacturer Silhouette, Essilor teams will offer 3,000 corrective lenses and distribute eyeglasses to underprivileged populations in Berlin.

TOMS Activating for World Sight Day

Preparing for  World Sight Day (Oct. 11), TOMS will align with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) to generate global awareness about  blindness, visual impairment and rehabilitation of the visually impaired. The charitable organization is trying to spread the word both online and offline through the creation of a dedicated microsite, and will be harnessing the power of social media and numerous events.  Online, TOMS supporters can go to www.TOMS.com/world-sight-day to learn more about this important issue and find out how they can personally participate.  Visitors can also download World Sight Day toolkits that include uniquely inspiring eye charts, and are invited to utilize a new hashtag, #GIVEsight, through social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  You too can generate awareness about the need to improve world vision. It could be a way of generating local publicity. Read more.

World Sight Day--Oct. 11

October 11th is World Sight Day, an observance  of the global effort to fight eye disorders and improve the lives of those suffering with these disorders. Ninety percent of the world’s blind live in developing nations, where multiple factors contribute to higher prevalence of blindness and visual impairment, such as Vitamin A Deficiency, River blindness and infections such as trachoma, the leading causes of preventable childhood blindness.

Americans can help by supporting international nonprofit groups based in the US, with financial donations and volunteer community projects. The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness also provides a list of worthwhile organizations for people interested in providing support. Why not attempt a promotion that gets your customers involved?

World Sight Day Challenge Begins

"The World Sight Day Challenge is a major fundraising campaign coordinated by Optometry Giving Sight which is designed to raise funds for projects that provide vision care, local training and infrastructure support for people who are blind or vision impaired due to uncorrected refractive error – simply the need for an eye exam and a pair of glasses," according to Optometry Giving Sight. "Optometry Giving Sight is calling on all members of the optometric community to join the global movement to eliminate avoidable blindness by taking the 2012 World Sight Day Challenge. There are many ways to get involved. Participating optometrists may donate a day of eye exam fees, or a small amount from each pair of glasses sold throughout the month. They may also hold a staff-led fundraising event, or invite patient donations throughout October. Optometric companies can also get involved, by making a company donation, or holding an event in their workplace. Optometry students from around the world also take part in the Challenge. Watch the short video and follow the prompts to register here." Read more.

Raising $4 Billion on World Sight Day

Having lead the battle for improved vision in developing communities, Australian Professor, Brien Holden, and South African Professor, Kovin Naidoo, will try to raise US$4billionRead more. to do enough training, enough eye examinations and supply enough spectacles to help the 670 million people who need care.On World Sight Day this year on 13 October, Holden and Naidoo will demand that governments and institutions stop ignoring the simplest eye care problem to correct – refractive error. The term refractive error encompasses myopia (short sightedness), hyperopia (long sightedness) and the biggest concern – presbyopia (the need for reading glasses which affects everyone over the age of 45 years). When left untreated, refractive error can cause vision impairment and blindness, drastically reduce educational and employment opportunities and can often lead to poverty.

Help for World Sight Day in October

"Optometry Giving Sight invites optometrists and the ophthalmic community in the U.S. and Canada to take part in the World Sight Day Challenge to raise funds for people who are needlessly blind or vision impaired due to uncorrected refractive error," according to a post on PCSuperSite. "Optometrists are invited to take the challenge by donating their eye exam fees on World Sight Day (Oct. 13) or any other day in October, or they can join their colleagues across the profession by making a personal or practice donation at www.givingsight.org. Practices are also encouraged to involve their staff and patients by having an office celebration throughout the month." Read more. 


The National Eye Institute's webpage notes that "This year, World Sight Day (WSD) will be hosted by the National Eye Institute (NEI) in partnership with Lions Clubs International Foundation, Lighthouse International, and the International Agency to Prevent Blindness with the goal to educate our communities about the need to conquer preventable blindness and preserve sight."