Lapaire celebrates World Sight Day with eye health awareness drive at Buddo S.S
On Thursday, the Pan-African eyewear brand Lapaire collaborated with Buddo Secondary School to observe World Sight Day.
World Sight Day is an annual global event held on the second Thursday of October to highlight the importance of eye examinations in preventing eye-related issues.
This year's event, themed "Love your eyes (KIDS)," featured various activities aimed at raising awareness about children's eye health as a crucial issue.
During the event, Oliver Wambile, the Senior Public Relations Manager of Lapaire Uganda, emphasized the organization's dedication to making a significant impact and enhancing the vision of the community.
Wambile explained that they focused on schools due to the urgent need to educate both children and teachers about eye health.
"Why schools?. It is simply because when working with the International Agency of Prevention of Blindness, we work towards the theme of eyesight, love your eyes for kids. And it is within that theme that we got the idea of working with kids, simply because you find most of these kids, you know, people who are willing to learn are found in school," Wambile said.
He added, "So we had options to go somewhere else, but we prefer schools because with the schools we are educating, not only the children but also the tutors and teachers."
He mentioned that they took the opportunity to educate teachers on how to support children with vision problems to enhance their academic performance.
"You can't have a short-sighted student sitting at the back of the classroom, as it will impact their performance. Therefore, we are teaching these principles to the teachers so they can better understand and assess the vision of their students," he explained.
Livingston Senabuliya, the Director of Studies at Buddo, expressed his support for Lapaire's initiative to promote eye care awareness in schools, stating that it would benefit students who experience eye health issues due to the use of computers, phones, and other electronic devices.
"Lapaire approached us to celebrate World Sight Day with our students. Many of our learners use computers and phones, which can harm their eyesight, so we agreed to provide them with a platform to educate students on maintaining eye health," Senabuliya said.
During the event, Lapaire specialists educated students and teachers about the importance of eye health, particularly through workshops focused on eye testing.
According to the World Health Organization, around 450 million children worldwide suffer from vision impairments that require corrective lenses.
Yet, many of these conditions remain undiagnosed, particularly in low-income regions where access to eye care is limited.
Today, the lAPB estimates that kids suffering from vision loss have 2 to 5 times more risk of abandoning school while wearing eyeglasses can reduce school failure by 44%!
Some common warning signs of eye health issues include: Trouble reading or avoiding close activities, children shying away from tasks that require close attention, tilting their head or squinting, among others.
"This is why the focus on children's vision health during World Sight Day 2024 is so crucial. Lapaire's efforts this year will double:raise awareness but also suggest color vision deficiencies, provide tangible solutions to address this." Lapaire says.