The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) has officially launched the World Sight Day 2024 campaign. The campaign is an opportunity for individuals and organizations worldwide to unite in support of eye health for all.
Peter Holland, CEO IAPB said “The World Sight Day campaign has always been about building awareness of the importance of eye health. With the 2024 campaign, we are focusing our efforts on ensuring parents and carers understand the role eye care plays in a child’s development, learning attainment, and social interactions. We also hope that through the support of our Love Your Eyes Global Partners and membership network, we can inspire millions of young people everywhere to take care of their eyes.”
To further build engagement and awareness, IAPB has introduced a mascot to the campaign called Artie. Artie, as the face of the World Sight Day campaign, is the physical representation of the Love Your Eyes heart and brings a fun, youthful element to the campaign. In addition to Artie, IAPB has released a suite of eye health activities pages and learning materials designed for children of all ages that can accessed via the IAPB website.
The Glasses of the Future Competition, another new element to the campaign, invites creative kids to colour and invent the next generation of glasses. The competition calls for entries from around the world and will close on World Sight Day.
Simon Darvill, Director of Communications, Campaigns and Events for IAPB said “We introduced Artie and The Glasses of the Future Competition as fun ways to inspire children to look away from the screen and learn healthy habits that will protect their eyes for a long time. Our hope is that everyone with an interest in helping children see will adopt Artie in a way that supports their awareness and campaigning efforts. We would also love for businesses to invite the children that come through their waiting rooms to enter the competition and create some cool glasses.”
People are reminded that as an important part of the Love Your Eyes campaign, World Sight Day is not a single day of observation but a series of opportunities for awareness from July and running through to 10 October. This extended campaign allows participants, in the eye health sector and beyond, to maximize engagement and promotion that best suit their organization.
World Sight Day is made possible with support from IAPB’s Love Your Eyes Global Partners; Abbvie, Amgen, Bayer, CBM, CooperVision, Hoya, Johnson & Johnson Vision, National Vision, Roche, Safilo, Seva Foundation, and Sightsavers.
About IAPB
IAPB is the overarching alliance for the global eye health sector, with more than 200 organizations in over 100 countries working together for a world where everyone has universal access to eye care. IAPB believes in a world in which no one is needlessly visually impaired, where everyone has access to the best possible standard of eye health; and where those with irreparable sight loss achieve their full potential. Our key priorities are global advocacy, campaigning on a different level, connecting knowledge, and strengthening the network.
About World Sight Day
World Sight Day is coordinated by IAPB and is an annual day of awareness, held on the second Thursday of October. It is an opportunity to focus the world’s attention on eye care. World Sight Day 2024 will be held on Thursday 10 October 2024. For further information about promoting eye health in the workplace, and to join activities for this year’s World Sight Day – “Love Your Eyes at Work” visit the IAPB website.
About Love Your Eyes
The Love Your Eyes campaign was launched as part of World Sight Day 2021, it is a year-round campaign to raise the profile of eye health, encouraging the public to take care of their own eye health and raise the profile of the 1.1billion people worldwide who have eye health conditions and do not have access to treatment.
