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Campaigning on a new level to achieve our 2030 in Sight aims

Published: 07.09.2022
Peter Holland CEO
IAPB
Love Your Eyes
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By 2030, we want a world where no-one experiences unnecessary or preventable sight loss and everyone can achieve their full potential; eye care and rehabilitation services are accessible, inclusive and affordable for everyone, everywhere, whenever they are needed; and people understand the importance of caring for their own eye health and demand access to services, free from the weight of any social stigma.  

To do this, across the sector we need to campaign and communicate on a different level, driving awareness, commitment and change. We know that almost every person will need help with their sight at some point in their life. So all of us should know how to look after our eyes and be able to access eye care, without being judged or treated differently. To do this we need to educate and empower people by making people more aware of what they can do to look after their own eyes.

That is where our Love Your Eyes campaign comes in, a three-year campaign calling on governments and businesses to make eye health accessible, available and affordable for everyone by 2030.  If we are to end avoidable sight loss by 2030 we need to act now to engage global leaders and governments to give a voice to over 1 billion people in our communities who live with sight loss because they can’t get the services they need, most of them in low- and middle-income countries. 

As we build the Love Your Eyes campaign, we hope that more members can get involved and help us activate consumer demand and drive market change.  

The general public and decision-makers may be jaded after 50 years of international development and equality campaigns, and pessimistic about the potential for social change. They may question whether their effort or investment will make any difference. But change can and does happen. We need only to look at the progress in eliminating blinding trachoma around the world and the achievements of VISION 2020 to see positive change happening.

We must inspire hope and optimism with active and campaigning messages, supported with examples of what can be achieved together.  

By campaigning on a new level, in a new way and using existing campaigns like World Sight Day, we will educate the public, governments, and world leaders to help raise the profile of the issue. Last year’s World Sight Day campaign resulted in more media and social media than ever before with tens of millions of people engaging in our campaign. This year our World Sight Day pledges or our parliamentary screenings will get even more members of the public and decision makers involved in helping the world to understand the importance of eye health.  

Together we must work to make sure eye health receives the global political, health and development focus it needs and deserves. We will work to make eye health accessible, available and affordable to everyone by 2030. Join the Love Your Eyes campaign today and get organised ahead of World Sight Day.