Eye
World sight day is celebrated on October 13, the theme for this year is "eye care for all."Reuters

World Sight Day is celebrated every year on October 13 to put focus on proper eye care. The theme for this year is "eye care for all."

According to the WHO statistics, 285 million people suffer from low vision and blindness worldwide. Around 90 percent of these visual disorders are an outcome of chronic eye ailments.

If people receive proper eye care from the beginning, around 80 per cent of the eye impairment cases can be prevented, as per the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.

The National Programme for Control of Blindness even took the initiative of providing people with free eye checkup facilities in New Delhi to achieve the goal of eliminating preventable eye impairments. The free checkups will be available at:

  • Primary Health Center (PHC)
  • Community Health Center
  • Medical College
  • District Hospital
  • Regional Institute Opthalmology
  • Various NGOs

All the eye-care organisations aim at preventing avoidable eye disorders globally and spread awareness about eye health.

Here are a few tips you can follow to take care of your eye and maintain eye health:

Hygiene:

Maintain good hygiene by splashing water in your eyes, doing so would avoid eye infections. It will also help in clearing out all the dirt accumulated in your eyes and help in keeping them healthy.

Take proper steps in case of eye injuries:

In case your eye is inflicted with any type of injury, take proper care instantly and follow expert advice. Consult a doctor immediately, especially if the wound is severe.

Follow vitamin A rich diet:

In order to avoid the retina from getting damaged, corneal scarring and so on, which lead to vision loss and blindness consume vitamin A rich foods like carrots, dark leafy vegetables, etc.

Avoid reading in dim light:

Studying in dim light puts a lot of strain on our eyes and affects our vision by making it poor. Make sure you always read in proper lighting.

Take breaks if reading for long:

If you are reading, don't read from a very short distance. Don't read continuously for long span of time, take short breaks in between to relax your eye muscles.

Get checked often:

Visit doctors once in a while to get checked for any kind of eye disorder; they are treatable, curable and preventable if taken care of at the right time.

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