World Sight Day 2011

What is World Sight Day 2011 (WSD11)?

World Sight Day (WSD) is an international day of awareness, held annually on the second Thursday of October to focus attention on the global issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment. This year, there is no global theme for World Sight Day 2011 (WSD11), which we hope will allow each participating organisation to use the occasion to highlight its own priority areas, in ways which will resonate with their own target audiences.

Global Key Messages

 

·        80% of all visual impairment can be avoided or cured

·        About 284 million people are visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 245 have low vision

·        About 90% of the world's visually impaired people live in developing countries

·        Globally, uncorrected refractive errors are the main cause of visual impairment but in middle and low-income countries cataracts remain the leading cause

·        The number of people visually impaired from infectious diseases has greatly reduced in the last 20 years

WSD11 is officially observed on 13 October 2011, but event dates, and activities to mark the occasion will vary around the world.