The World Glaucoma Week (Blue Water) is celebrated every year in March to boost awareness on the Blue Water Disease (Glaucoma) and the international increase in the number of persons affected with it compared to the growth of population.
Glaucoma is reckoned one of the most important diseases causing blindness in the world. Patients with Glaucoma amounted to 60.5 million in 2010. Scientists estimate the number of Glaucoma cases to increase by 2020 to reach 79.6 million persons.
The event aims at activating an international initiative dubbed “Vision 2020: The Right to Sight,” which was launched by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) in an endeavor to set plans and programs needed to prevent avoidable blindness before 2020.
Approved Date:
Internationally: March 8-14, 2015
Locally: Jumada 1st 17-23, 1436H
Logo of the World Glaucoma Week 2015:
Beat Invisible Glaucoma
General Goals of the World Glaucoma Week:
- Achieving the initiative dubbed, “Vision 2020: The Right to Sight”
- Encouraging the community members to have their eyes checked by a specialist physician to make sure they are free from Blue Water (Glaucoma).
- Increasing health awareness among the community members, given that the detection of diseases, particularly Glaucoma, in an early stage helps avoid its complications.
Targeted Groups:
- Glaucoma patients.
- Patients' families.
- People vulnerable to Glaucoma.
- Health workers, including physicians, nurses, pharmacists and health educators.
- Health decision-makers.
- Associations and organizations concerned with eye diseases.
- The society as a whole.
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