World Sight Day set for Oct. 8

London

-Three hundred events in more than 50 countries will mark this year’s World Sight Day, Oct. 8. The event is coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) as part of the Vision 2020 global initiative of the IAPB and the World Health Organization.

The 2009 theme is gender and eye health-equal access to care. According to an IAPB-issued report, in most developing countries, women are less likely to receive eye-care services than men, women account for nearly two-thirds of blind people worldwide, and “the systematic approach to ‘gender and blindness’ can serve as a model to help other health areas to address gender inequity.”

Activities and events are planned around the world, including in Washington, DC; Sydney, Australia; Prague, Czech Republic; Tehran, Iran; Delhi, India; and Port Au Prince in Trinidad & Tobago. The event in the U.S. capital will be the first of its kind, with the collaboration of several U.S.-based non-profit organizations.

For more information, visit

www.v2020.org

.