Prevent Blindness participates in global "World Sight Day" initiative with a variety of eye health events and programs offered free to the public.
CHICAGO, Sept. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Prevent Blindness, the nation's leading patient advocacy organization dedicated to preventing blindness and preserving sight, is kicking off its month of "World Sight Day" activities in alignment with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), the global champion for the observance, leading up to the worldwide day of awareness on Oct. 9, 2025.
In keeping with the annual theme of "Love Your Eyes," Prevent Blindness, together with its affiliates and national partners, will host educational events and vision screenings across the country, a free informational webinar on the importance of eye health in the thyroid community, a Congressional Briefing in Washington, DC, and more. These World Sight Day activities are supported by funding from Alkeus Pharmaceuticals, Amgen, and Apellis.
Once again, the National Center for Children's Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness is teaming up with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) to offer teachers, parents, and the general public its comprehensive World Sight Day toolkit. This free program provides bookmarks, stickers, coloring pages, and more, available for download. And as part of a continued collaboration, Truffles the Kitty stickers and materials are also available for download from the NASN and Prevent Blindness toolkit.
New this year, Prevent Blindness is co-hosting a free informational webinar, "Thyroid Eye Disease: Can I Talk About My Eyes?" with the Vision Health Advocacy Coalition. This webinar seeks to educate the public and health professionals on the importance of eye health for those in the thyroid community, and will be held at 8 p.m. ET on Oct. 9, featuring an endocrinologist and an individual living with thyroid eye disease. Attendees may register here. This webinar is supported by funding from Amgen.
Also on World Sight Day, in partnership with the Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington, Prevent Blindness will host a vision screening and eye health education event in addition to a Congressional Briefing in Washington, DC:
•Vision Screening and Educational Event
9 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET
Rayburn House Office Building Foyer, 2nd Floor
•Congressional Briefing: Addressing Children's Vision and Eye Health as a Readiness Imperative
12 p.m. – 1 p.m. ET
Rayburn House Office Building 2044
The Congressional Briefing will include information and updates on the Early Detection of Vision Impairments for Children (EDVI) Act. Led by Congressional Vision Caucus co-chairs Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12) and Marc A. Veasey (D-TX-33), and co-sponsored by Rep. Janelle S. Bynum (D-OR-5), Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY-2), Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, (D-DC-At Large), and Rep. Melanie A. Stansbury (D-NM-1), this bipartisan legislation seeks to establish the first national program specifically aimed at improving children's vision and eye health through coordinated systems of care. The EDVI Act is currently endorsed by more than 100 organizations.
Those interested in attending the vision screening and/or Congressional Briefing in Washington, DC, are asked to RSVP here.
And finally, Delta Gamma's Do Good Week, October 8-15, will again encompass both World Sight Day and White Cane Awareness Day. Through the ongoing partnership, a variety of educational resources are available for its members through the Prevent Blindness and Delta Gamma "Service for Sight" online portal. A toolkit is available for download, as well as the "Learn, Do, Advocate" suite.
"Every year, Prevent Blindness joins with the worldwide vision and eye health community to celebrate World Sight Day, a global event aimed at addressing the importance of healthy eyesight and the crucial need for equitable access to eye care," said Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. "Collectively, our efforts help ensure that people everywhere can enjoy the precious gift of sight."
Peter Holland, Chief Executive Officer of IAPB added, "World Sight Day continues to grow in importance and effectiveness by bringing together leaders in vision and eye health. It's through the activation and reach of our growing members around the world, including Prevent Blindness in the U.S., that we are able to have such a strong impact through this campaign."
For more information on this year's Prevent Blindness World Sight Day activities and/or sponsorship opportunities, please visit https://preventblindness.org/calendar/2025-world-sight-day/.
For more information on World Sight Day, please visit iapb.org/world-sight-day/.
About Prevent Blindness
Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year through public and professional education, advocacy, certified vision screening and training, community and patient service programs and research. These services are made possible through the generous support of the American public. Together with a network of affiliates, Prevent Blindness is committed to eliminating preventable blindness in America. For more information, visit us at PreventBlindness.org, and follow us on Facebook, X, Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube.
Media Contact
Sarah Hecker, Prevent Blindness, 312.363.6035, [email protected], PreventBlindness.org
SOURCE Prevent Blindness
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