Across 10 countries and three continents, our teams and partners worked tirelessly to raise awareness, advocate for eye health and provide screenings to thousands of people.

Our global impact with our partners saw us:

• conduct 66,051 eye screenings, including 31,065 for children,
• organize eye health screenings in 81 schools in six countries,
• distribute 1,728 pairs of prescription eyeglasses; and
• attend or hold 39 advocacy meetings and awareness-raising events.

Below are highlights of our World Sight Day achievements from around the world.

Highlights by region

Africa

Ethiopia: A school eye health initiative resulted in screenings of 1,200 students at Lideta Primary and Middle School in Bahir Dar City. The event linked eye health with WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) education and provided free prescription eyeglasses to students in need.

Community members in Ethiopia shared learnings that highlighted the importance of raising awareness of eye health in schools for both teachers and students.

A grade six student said, “I heard about trachoma only a month ago after joining our health club. Before this, most of us didn’t even know such eye problems existed.” The World Health Organization (WHO) lists trachoma as the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness and one of 21 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that affect over one billion of the world’s lowest income people. As of April 2025, the WHO Weekly epidemiological record reported that Ethiopia accounted for 64 per cent of the global burden of trachoma, with 66 million people at risk. It can be prevented with access to clean water and hygiene education and treated with antibiotics. (Learn more about our trachoma treatment and prevention projects here.)

Ghana: Our Ghana team supported Ghana Health Service in a press event to share the importance of eye health and the significance of World Sight Day. Alongside partners Watborg Eye Services, Gbawe Municipal Hospital and Swedru Government Hospital, community eye screenings and eye health awareness activities took place. In all, 876 people had their eyes screened.

Kenya: Our Kenya team conducted advocacy for eye health by attending 12 meetings and working with partners to educate decision-makers at the national, regional and community levels about the need for eye health care and public education. This included working with the National Ministry of Health Eye Health Section to conduct eye screenings for Nairobi County Assembly members, to educate and advocate for the need to prioritize eye health in resource allocation.

Our Kenya team also ran an eye health awareness campaign at the Kajiado County Assembly, where Members of the County Assembly and staff received eye screening and treatment for various eye conditions. This was conducted to educate decision-makers on the need to include eye health in policy formulation, budget planning, and public. As a result, the County Assembly reaffirmed its commitment to promoting the health and well-being of citizens through informed policies and strategic partnerships.

In Nandi County, in partnership with the County Government of Nandi and through the support of Johnson & Johnson, we officially launched a new eye clinic at Maraba Sub-County Hospital in Tinderet Sub County. The launch was presided over by Deputy County Commissioner Esther Oyugi and attended by senior county officials and community representatives. This marked a major milestone in improving access to primary eye care services. The new facility will provide screening, treatment and referral services, significantly enhancing Nandi County’s capacity to deliver comprehensive eye care and contributing to the elimination of avoidable blindness in the region.

Malawi: Our team in Malawi worked with partners to screen 16,701 people. This included screening students in nine schools and training 42 frontline workers.

Zambia: Our Zambia team worked with partners to screen 20,087 people. Screenings were held at 20 schools, reaching 12,728 students. Of these, 886 students received prescription eyeglasses. In all, 79 people were booked for cataract surgeries.

We also advocated for eye health through meetings with the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Health and hosted a radio call-in show to educate the public about eye health care and where they can seek help.

North America

Canada: In Canada, we focused on advocacy for integrating eye health into universal health care. Events included a webinar, lighting events at the Calgary Tower, the Esplanade Riel Bridge in Winnipeg, Market Square in Guelph and the CN Tower in Toronto as well as news stories.

Kris Kelm, Global Director – International Programs and Chair of the Canadian Eye Health Coalition, featured in a dynamic webinar titled “The Future in Focus: Eye Health in Canada and Beyond”, with experts discussing the urgent need to prioritize and strategize for the growing demands of eye care across the life cycle. Speakers and topics included:

• Global Eye Health Trends with Katie Judson, Seva Canada
• Equitable Access for Children & Seniors with Dr. Boateng Wiafe, Watborg Eye Services, Ghana
• Canadian Eye Health Priorities with Kris Kelm, Operation Eyesight
• Policy & Advocacy for Eye Health Equity with Senator Mohamed-Iqbal Ravalia, Canadian Senate
• Innovations in Research with Dr. Hunter Cherwek, Orbis International  

The importance of eye health care in Canada was highlighted in TV and radio news stories in Calgary and Ontario, in English and in French.

South Asia

Bangladesh: Our partners in Bangladesh screened a total of 1,719 people, including 1,627 children, through screenings at 11 schools. Overall, 143 students and 40 community members received free prescription eyeglasses.

India: Our team and partners in India screened 17,715 people, including 12,709 children. Screenings were held across 39 schools with 519 students receiving free prescription eyeglasses.

Nepal: In Nepal, our partners screened 710 people, including 440 children. One school screening took place, and 95 students received free prescription eyeglasses.

Every day is World Sight Day at Operation Eyesight

While World Sight Day is a time to focus the world’s attention on the importance of eye health care, every day is World Sight Day at Operation Eyesight. Our teams are always on the ground in 10 countries work daily alongside communities, governments, hospitals and like-minded organizations to bring quality eye health care to all – regardless of ability to pay, gender, age or where people live.

We have seen how addressing avoidable vision loss transforms lives – by improving access to education, employment, independence and opportunity – For All The World To See!   

Thank you for your support, on World Sight Day and every day!

The post World Sight Day 2025: The results of our global call for everyone to Love Their Eyes appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

In Canada, our colours lit up the skylines in Calgary, Winnipeg, Guelph and Toronto to raise awareness about eye health and the passing of the National Strategy for Eye Care Act, which will help make vision care a national priority.

In Ghana, our team participated in a media launch with Ghana Health Service, along with regional awareness activities, while in Kenya, the day was marked with an awareness march, the opening of a new eye clinic and various screening camps.

Throughout Bangladesh, India and Nepal we organized more than 20 screening and surgical outreach camps, and in Zambia we launched a new radio series about eye health and organized various school eye health screenings.

Each initiative brings us closer to a future where eye health is accessible to all. These events are more than moments; they’re movements towards lasting change in global eye health.

Dr. Chisanga Chelu, an ophthalmologist from Kabwe General Hospital in Zambia, discusses eye health in an hour-long program we are running on a local radio station in Kapiri Mposhi, Central Province. It was the first of a 13-week series in which listeners can learn more about eye health and call in with their questions. In areas where access to smartphones is limited, radio is an effective channel for sharing important eye health messages and encouraging people to seek care.

The post Prioritizing vision care for all on World Sight Day appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

This World Sight Day, our colours are lighting up skylines in communities across Canada, from Calgary to Winnipeg and from Guelph to Toronto. We’ll be sharing photos on our website and social media, so everyone can see them.  

If you live in Calgary, where we have been based for more than six decades, look up, way up, at the Calgary Tower after dark on October 9. To help raise awareness of the importance of eye health, the Calgary Tower will shine in Operation Eyesight’s blue and orange.

If you live in Toronto, you can see the CN Tower shining in blue and orange (and yellow, for another eye-related organization that is also marketing World Sight Day). Wherever you live in Canada, urban, rural or remote, you can view the CN Tower lighting through the Tower’s webcam here. Catch the light show at the top of every hour and at every half hour.

Guelph’s Market Square lit up in blue and orange overnight on October 8 to 9.

The Winnipeg Esplanade Riel Bridge and city sign will be lit up on October 11 for World Sight Day as well as World Blindness Awareness month (October).

Why we’re raising awareness of eye health in Canada on World Sight Day

As of 2019, in Canada, 1.2 million people experience vision loss, which is 3.2 per cent of the population, and another estimated eight million people – 19 per cent – have eye conditions that could lead to blindness.

Fortunately, 75 per cent of vision loss in Canada is avoidable

Avoidable vision loss can be prevented or treated when detected and addressed early. This is best done through regular eye exams; however, just 51 per cent of people in Canada are aware of how often to get an exam. Vision loss impacts people of all ages and touches all aspects of life including:

• education (students with uncorrected refractive error learn 50 per cent less than peers);
• employment (vision loss can lead to a 30 per cent reduction in employment); and
• Canada’s economy – in 2019 alone the estimated cost of vision loss was nearly 33 billion dollars according to The Cost of Vision Loss and Blindness in Canada report.

World Sight Day is in focus in Canada this year with the passing of the National Strategy for Eye Care Act  in November 2024.

Kris Kelm, our Global Director – International Programs and Chair of the Canadian Eye Health Coalition, says, “Canada has made eye health a national priority with the passage of the National Strategy for Eye Care Act. We’re hard at work with like-minded organizations and communities, including Indigenous communities, to help shape the framework for an eye health care system that will serve all Canadians, from Inuvik to Iqaluit, and from Victoria to St. John’s – and every urban, rural and remote community in between. We are proud to bring more than 60 years of experience – earned building eye health care systems with partners in Africa and South Asia – to the table, and we feel that there is a lot for our Canadian policy to learn from international experience.”

Our President & CEO Kashinath Bhoosnurmath says, “Together, we can build an eye health care system in Canada that improves quality of life for us all, personally and for our family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. Together, we can eliminate avoidable vision loss in Canada to expand our collective opportunities – and be a shining inspiration for others.”

Eyesight on the international stage

On September 23, 2025, the UN Friends of Vision, collaborating with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) which facilitates World Sight Day worldwide, presented the very first The Value of Vision: The Investment Case for Eye Health to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The case will help inform international frameworks and lay a path for countries to build eye health care systems.

World Sight Day 2025: A list of Operation Eyesight activities in Canada

• Co-hosting a webinar for decision makers called The Future in Focus: Eye Health in Canada and Beyond. The webinar, a collaboration between Operation Eyesight, Seva Canada and Orbis Canada, will focus on the rising demand for eye health care nationally and globally, on Thursday, October 9.
• Helping kids love their eyes: We’re encouraging parents, guardians and teachers to download resources for educating children (and themselves) about eye health: operationeyesight.com/free-resources-for-parents

We will be sharing our activities on social media and our website. Learn more or donate in honour of World Sight Day at operationeyesight.com/worldsightday.

Happy World Sight Day! And thank you to our staff, donors and partners around the world for your steadfast dedication to our mission to prevent blindness and restore sight – For All The World To See!

The post World Sight Day in Canada appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

This year, get your youngest family members involved by participating in our World Sight Day Wellness Bingo, an activity that challenges kids to take care of their eyes. Download your copy today.

The post Mark your calendars for World Sight Day, October 9 appeared first on Operation Eyesight.