Holidays
What
do people do?
World Sight Day is a global event
that focuses on bringing attention on blindness and vision impairment. It is
observed on the second Thursday of October each year.
What
do people do?
The
World Health Organization (WHO), which is the UN’s directing and coordinating
authority for health, and the International Agency for the Prevention of
Blindness (IAPB) are actively involved in coordinating events and activities
for World Sight Day. Associations such as Lions Clubs International have also
been actively involved in promoting the day on an annual basis for many years.
Many communities, associations, and non-government organizations work together
with WHO and IAPB to promote the day for the following purposes:
§ To raise public awareness of blindness and vision impairment as major
international public health issues.
§ To influence governments, particularly health ministers, to participate
in and designate funds for national blindness prevention programs.
§ To educate target audiences about blindness prevention, about VISION
2020 and its activities, and to generate support for VISION 2020 program
activities.
Birthdays
Michael Alex "Mike"
Conley, Jr. (born October 11,
1987) is an American professional basketball player
who plays for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National
Basketball Association (NBA)
Constance Zimmer (born October 11, 1970) is an
American actress perhaps best known for her role in HBO'sEntourage and on
the critically acclaimed ABC legal comedy-drama Boston Legal. Her most
recent project was starring on NBC's short-lived series Love Bites
Jane Krakowski (born October 11, 1968)
is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her performance on Ally McBeal, and for her
current role on
the NBC sitcom 30 Rock
Richard Henry Wilde Dillard (born 11 October 1937) is an American
poet, author, critic,
and translator
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (October 11, 1884 – November
7, 1962) was the longest serving First Lady of the United States
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhy would I like to comment on Anna Eleanor Roosevelt's life??? I think it is obvious! She was one of America's great reforming leaders who had a sustained impact on national policy toward youth, blacks, women, the poor, and the United Nations. The fact impressed me that she was not only the First Lady thatns for her husband, even after After President Roosevelt's death on April 12, 1945, Mrs. Roosevelt continued in her public life. President Truman appointed her to the United Nations General Assembly. She served as chair of the Human Rights Commission and worked tirelessly to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the General Assembly on December 10, 1948. She was in great demand as a speaker and lecturer. Like her husband had done with radio, she also made effective use of the emerging technology of television. She was a prolific writer with many articles and books to her credit including a multi-volume autobiography.
ReplyDeleteHeld on the second Thursday of October since 1998, World Sight Day is included on the official World Health Organization calendar and coordinated by the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness.
ReplyDeleteThis year’s World Sight Day theme is "Eyes on the Future: Fighting Vision Impairment Later in Life." An estimated 80% of the world’s 45 million blind people are over the age of 50, yet 75% of this blindness can be easily treated or could have prevented.
See some facts:
285 million people are visually impaired.
80% don't have to be.
Every 5 seconds, someone in the world goes blind.
Cataracts are the leading cause of global blindness(and they are curable).
http://www.toms.com/world-sight-day/
World Sight Day is observed for the following reasons:
ReplyDelete- Awareness is created about blindness and vision impairment issues which are considered to be international public health concerns.
- To motivate health ministers and other government officials to understand the problems and take keen interest in listing viable solutions and allocating resources to fight for the cause.
- To raise awareness and educate people about issues related to vision impairment, the importance of a 2020 vision, the corrective steps to be taken in order to restore partially lost sight etc.
Activities undertaken on World Sight Day:
- Every individual has his own way of commemorating World Sight Day. Some people are known to plant trees to raise awareness.
- Some people indulge in exchanging photos for international photo collages hosted by health agencies around the world.
- Activists, who work solely for the cause, distribute posters, bookmarks, booklets and other promotional material that helps raise awareness. They also visit schools and colleges in order to educate the students about the perils of vision impairment.
Statistics related to World Sight Day:
- 80% of 45 million blind people worldwide are over 50 years of age.
- A majority of the blind people, about 90%, live in nations where access to eye care is restricted.
- Out of the eye care services that are administered worldwide, it is known that women and girls receive barely 35% of the care while men and boy receive well over 64%.
- Women and girls make up over two thirds of the blind population worldwide.
- 80% of the world’s blindness can be avoided.
New estimates of visual impairment and blindness: 2010
ReplyDeleteThe magnitude of visual impairment and blindness and their causes have been estimated, globally and by WHO region from recent data. For countries without data estimates were based on newly developed model.
- Globally the number of people of all ages visually impaired is estimated to be 285 million, of whom 39 million are blind.
- People 50 years and older are 82% of all blind.
- The major causes of visual impairment are uncorrected refractive errors (43%) and cataract (33%); the first cause of blindness is cataract (51%).
Visual impairment in 2010 is a major global health issue: the preventable causes are as high as 80% of the total global burden.
http://www.who.int/blindness/en/index.html
General Pulaski Memorial Day is a United States holiday in honor of General Kazimierz Pułaski (spelled Casimir Pulaski in English), a Polish hero of the American Revolution. This holiday is held every year on October 11 by Presidential Proclamation, to commemorate his death from wounds suffered at the Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779 and to honor the heritage of Polish Americans. The observance was established in 1929 when Congress passed a resolution (Public Resolution 16 of 1929) designating October 11 as General Pulaski Memorial Day. Every President has issued a proclamation for the observance annually since (except in 1930)
ReplyDelete