Dominica will join the rest of the world today 13th October, in celebrating World Sight Day

​Dominica will join the rest of the world on 13th October in celebrating World sight Day, to raise public awareness about an important international public health problem: Blindness and Visual Impairment. This according to a statement from the Ministry of Health.
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness estimates there are about 285 million people who are either blind (39million) or visually impaired (246 million) worldwide and that 80% of these cases are treatable or preventable.  About 90% of blind people are said to live in low-income countries. 
The Ministry of Health says increase resources should be provided to eliminate the causes of blindness like cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, refractive errors and childhood blindness in Dominica. These are the most prevalent causes of preventable blindness in the Caribbean that were listed to be targeted in the Vision 2020 ‘The Right to Sight’ Global Initiative.
World Sight Day 2016 is meant to draw attention to those involved in delivering eye care. In Dominica, it targets Ophthalmologists, Nurses, health Educators, Opticians, among others and Government policies such as the Free Eye Care for all program, NGOs, and Visiting eye teams. The Ministry of Health is urging persons to make World Sight Day matter, by having an eye exam today. This year's call to action is 'Stronger Together' and the MOH says 'working stronger together, we can achieve the goal of universal eye health in Dominica.