World Sight Day

The ability to admire and appreciate the unique beauty of the colourful and contrasting world we live in is perhaps the biggest blessing. Unfortunately, we are so busy in our daily lives that we don’t have enough time to appreciate this amazing gift that we have been gifted by the Almighty. Ask those who have been deprived of this gift, and you will realize how exclusive this realization is. During the course of history, there came a point where it felt as if the victims of blindness and the challenges they face were not anyone’s problem, anymore. To counter this feeling, and to show support for those who can no longer admire the beauty of this world with their eyesight, a world sight day is celebrated every year. In this brief, we are going to talk about this event in detail, and discuss its significance for countries like Pakistan.

Sight Issues in Numbers

Before we talk about the event itself, it makes sense to highlight the issue with a few facts and figures first. According to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, nearly 300 million people in the world suffer from impaired vision and blindness. It is believed that almost 90% of the blind population of the world hails from low-income countries, like India, Pakistan, and other countries from the Asian region. These numbers are reflective of the negligence with which the crisis of blindness is dealt in certain countries and states. Almost 80% of these cases can be avoided/treated but impediments like poverty and illiteracy get in the way, more often than not. Isn’t that simply tragic? 

The World Sight Day

We now switch the focus of this discussion towards the topic around which this whole debate has been orchestrated. World Sight Day. This day is celebrated on the second Thursday of October, every year. A quick glance at the calendar tells us that this year, world sight day will be celebrated on the 14th of October. The day is celebrated to raise awareness and draw attention towards the social and economic issues which are the leading reasons for increasing cases of visual impairment worldwide. It is because of events like these that a considerable decline has been observed in the blindness numbers on a global level. However, the good work has only begun. Efforts regarding improving the quality of life for the blind and general awareness about sight issues have to be doubled if our world is to become a place where everyone is treated equally.

Aims & Objectives of World Sight Day

The primary objective of celebrating a world sight day remains constant every year i.e. to raise awareness about the issues faced by blind people, as well as the preaching of preventive measures that can help masses thwart threats like cataracts. However, every year, a theme is assigned to this day. This theme is unique every year and highlights a particular topic related to this matter. For example, the theme for world sight day was Hope in Sight. This slogan demonstrates the hope and motivation that is necessary for survival for those who are still battling eye diseases like cataracts.

What to Do On World Sight Day?

There are more than one ways in which you can become a part of world sight day! You can talk about it in your friends and family circle, run a campaign in its favour on social media, or visit an eye hospital in your vicinity and spend some time with those who cannot enjoy the beauty of this world anymore! All that you have to be is a little creative! Donating to an organization that is helping the underprivileged defeat blindness is another way in which you can celebrate world sight day. If you don’t feel like spending hours on the internet, searching for an organization of this nature, one trusted option that you can consider is Transparent Hands.

Save Someone’s Sight with Transparent Hands 

Transparent Hands is the largest technological platform for crowdfunding in the healthcare sector of Pakistan. It offers a complete range of free healthcare services including medical and surgical treatments, free medical camps, in which eyesight is also checked, and telehealth facilities to the underprivileged community of Pakistan. The platform provides visibility to underprivileged patients and builds a personal and trusted bond between patients and donors while ensuring complete transparency. It also sets up free medical camps in the rural areas of Pakistan in which, free medical consultation, free medicines, and free diagnostic tests are provided to deserving patients. Donors from all over the world can use the Transparent Hands crowdfunding web portal and donate through 100% secure payment modes. They could select any patient, fund the treatment and receive regular feedback and updates until the patient has recovered completely.

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World Sight Day & Pakistan 

As mentioned earlier, a major percentage of blindness cases is reported from low-income countries. Unfortunately, Pakistan leads the charts in this regard. Some of the commonly reported eye issues in Pakistan include cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, trachoma, and certain other age-related pathologies. The incidence of refraction disorders and presbyopia is also quite alarmingly high. Anyone suffering from one or more of these eye issues is at risk of near-loss vision, mild loss vision, moderate vision loss, severe vision loss, monocular vision loss, and of course, complete blindness. The state tries to provide premium standard, free-of-cost ocular healthcare services. However, there is only a limited budget reserved for healthcare in Pakistan. Most of the burden is shared by the local and international NGOs like Transparent Hands.

Conclusion 

That would be all from this discussion. We wish we could go on a bit more and discuss in detail, the specific set of challenges faced by the blind community. Unfortunately, we have run out of the time and space we had for this discussion. Nevertheless, we are quite optimistic that you learned something if not everything new from this discussion about world sight day and the issues it addresses. On this optimistic note, we bid you farewell from this space!