The Optical Community Celebrates 25 Years of World Sight Day
Last week, the optical community celebrated the 25th anniversary of World Sight Day, the global awareness day observed annually on the second Thursday of October. This year’s campaign, coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) in cooperation with the World Health Organization, focused on ensuring eyecare is accessible, available and affordable for everyone. Building on the success of the past four years, the #LoveYourEyes campaign for this year’s World Sight Day encourages individuals worldwide to prioritize their own eye health and advocates for universal access to affordable and available eyecare.
The optical community worldwide marked World Sight Day with special events and programs. Eyecare associations, organizations, and both eyecare and eyewear companies participated in this global celebration. In addition to what VMAIL shared on World Sight Day on October 9, below are some additional ways the optical community contributed to the day.
In celebration of World Sight Day, the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation recently hosted two clinics: one at BronxWorks in the Bronx, New York (October 6-7), serving 278 people with a 95 percent need rate (the percentage of people who needed glasses/vision correction), and another at Metrocrest Services in Dallas, Texas (October 8-10), assisting 510 people with a 96 percent need rate. The Foundation also participated in EssilorLuxottica’s press day in New York City and AAO in Boston. During these events, they promoted their core message, “good vision changes everything,” and announced a significant milestone: providing the gift of clear vision to 5 million people in North America since the inception of their efforts to eliminate uncorrected poor vision. EssilorLuxottica employees across more than eight North American internal campuses also observed World Sight Day and the Foundation’s 5 million milestone. They showed their support by wearing World Sight Day T-shirts and advocating for the cause of good vision.
At Alcon, CEO David Endicott pointed to the company’s continued support of World Sight Day through such programs as Alcon Cares and the Alcon Foundation, which has provided over $500 million in grants and product donations to programs in more than 70 countries, enabling screenings, cataract surgeries, and access to corrective lenses for underserved patients, as well as its children’s vision programs and partnerships with organizations including Orbis and SEE International. “In recognition of World Sight Day 2025, we can celebrate what has been achieved but should also confront a sobering truth: we still have a lot of work to do to ensure millions won’t continue to live with avoidable vision loss. The future of eyecare depends not only on innovation, but also on training more ECPs and providing the infrastructure they need to reach more people,” Endicott said.
In recognition of World Sight Day, CooperVision planned several global initiatives, including spotlighting children’s vision and myopia management at the American Academy of Optometry Meeting in Boston last week. There, educator and motivational speaker Michael Bonner headlined a breakfast session titled, “Kids Can Do Hard Things (And So Can We!),” inspiring eyecare professionals to lead with intention and embrace evidence-based myopia management. A Color Run Fundraiser saw employees and their families at CooperVision’s West Henrietta, N.Y. global packaging and distribution center participate in a 5k color run/walk to raise funds and awareness for Optometry Giving Sight’s World Sight Day Challenge. In Singapore and Malaysia, a CooperVision team led a three-day pilot vision screening for underserved foreign workers, collaborating with med-tech and device partners to improve access to eyecare.
Coburn Technologies, a developer of ophthalmic lens processing systems and ophthalmic instruments, renewed support for the Optometry Giving Sight charity in celebration of World Sight Day. Coburn has pledged to provide enhanced financial donations to support the World Sight Day Challenge, the annual global awareness and fundraising campaign that helps create grants, vision centers, optometry schools, and training. Additionally, Coburn said it will offer its employees the opportunity to participate through a payroll deduction program in which the company will match employee donations. Coburn has also pledged in-kind contributions in the form of ophthalmic diagnostic equipment to OGS supported vision centers and optometry schools. And finally, Coburn will offer its employees opportunities to volunteer at OGS supported activity sites across the world.
Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) is currently running its 2025 World Sight Day Challenge, which continues until October 31. This initiative, held in conjunction with World Sight Day, serves as OGS’s largest annual fundraiser. During the Challenge, optometry practices, student groups, and related businesses raise funds to support OGS’s yearly grant program. Donna J. Mikulecky, OGS executive director, emphasized the communal effort: “This time of the year, in particular, we see the entire optometry community come together to support the dire need for access to eyecare where it is most needed.”
Zeiss Vision Care announced its support for World Sight Day’s “Every Story Counts” campaign theme. “Zeiss Vision Care works on numerous initiatives to ensure that eye health is also possible for those in need,” said Jesper Wiegandt, chief marketing officer at Zeiss Vision Care. “Whether it’s a new pair of glasses that allows a child to play basketball again or providing an eye screening in underserved regions, even these simplest of actions can transform lives and show what it means to love your eyes. Sharing these stories not only highlights the importance of visual health but can also inspire collective action toward a future where everyone can see clearly and thrive.”
