THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ‘World Sight Day’ message begins with a question: ‘Have you ever seen the most beautiful eyes in the world?’ However, no one can answer ‘yes’ because the most beautiful eyes are their own.
Every year, ‘World Sight Day’ is celebrated on the second Thursday of October as an international awareness initiative to draw global attention to vision impairment, including blindness. This year, on October 12th, the second Thursday of October we observe ‘World Sight Day’ to raise awareness and focus the world’s attention on the importance of eye care.
Each year, ‘World Sight Day’ is observed with special themes. The theme for this year, 2023, is Love Your Eyes at Work.
During an interview with Janam English, Dr. Vivekananda Chood OM and Dr. Veena Krishna discussed the importance of eye care in the workplace. In the past, when we thought about ‘eye care at the workplace,’ we immediately associated it with workshops and skilled workers. However, in this digital era, even white-collar employees are not exempt from the need for eye care.
Dr. Veena Krishna pointed out that in today’s classrooms, seven out of ten students wear eyeglasses for their vision. Children and technology have become inseparable. Whether for educational purposes, games, or obtaining information, children as well as adults spend a significant portion of their day on “screen time,” gazing at the LED screens of computers, tablets, smartphones, and other screen devices. Therefore, it is crucial for our future generations to be aware of eye protection. She emphasised that parents should also monitor their children’s screen-time usage and its impact.
Dr. Vivek emphasized the importance of following the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s 2023 Global Education Monitor (GEM) report, which deems a ban necessary to improve children’s health. He also suggested following the 20-20-20 rule for screen usage. This rule recommends that screen users take a break every 20 minutes, shift their focus to an object at least 20 feet away, and do this for at least 20 seconds.
K Mohan Kumar (manufacturing engineering) and M Prahadeeswaran (industrial engineering), research scholars from Anna University, Chennai, shared their experiences of putting a strain on their eyes for more than 10 hours a day. Tasks such as wielding and other workshop-related work, as well as writing research articles using laptops, are unavoidable for research scholars.
However, taking preventive measures is essential to protect their eyes.
‘World Sight Day’ has been observed since the year 2000 and is now coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness alongside the World Health Organization (UNWHO).
The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD), under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, observes the day with the vision of creating awareness about visual impairment by conducting various events across the country.
As the message from the doctors to our readers, regular eye checkups, a nutrient-rich diet, and other preventive measures can help sharpen our sight.
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