by Melitta J. Cutright

Each year hundreds of Lions clubs around the world hold vision screenings, community education programs, eyeglass collections and other special projects to mark Lions World Sight Day. “Although LWSD is officially held on the second Thursday in October, we encourage Lions to hold events throughout the entire month of October,” says International President Ashok Mehta. “This is a perfect opportunity for Lions clubs to conduct programs to preserve vision and prevent blindness, as well as to showcase the outstanding work of their club.”
This year the main event marking LWSD will be held in and around Hyderabad, India. This is the first time that the official LWSD event will be held in India.

Activities in Hyderabad, which will run from October 1 through October 15, will include the launch of the Sight for Kids Project in India with a massive vision screening of school children aged 5-9 and an eye health education program for parents and teachers. Lions will provide free eyeglasses and follow-up care for children who need them. The president of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is expected to attend. LCIF’s Sight for Kids Project is a partnership between LCIF and Johnson & Johnson. 

The number of people with diabetes in India is expected to double in 25 years. Therefore Lions will launch a US$398,430 diabetic retinopathy project at L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad on LWSD. L.V. Prasad Eye Institute is a world-class facility that provides 50 percent of its surgical services free to the poor. The LCIF SightFirst grant will allow Prasad to partner with 14 Lions eye hospitals on a comprehensive diabetic retinopathy education, screening and treatment program. The project has the potential to provide assistance to nearly 450,000 people with diabetes.

Lions will also launch Campaign SightFirst II in India. Other LWSD activities will be conducted throughout October. These will include two national seminars for health-care professionals on diabetic retinopathy and Sight for Kids, used eyeglasses collections, eye screenings for senior citizens and street children, and screenings at orphanages as well as many media activities. 

This year will mark the eighth annual LWSD. In past years Lions Clubs International has held major vision screenings and other activities in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina; Seoul, Korea; Los Angeles, USA; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Beijing, China; New York City, USA; Cape Town, South Africa; Hong Kong and Sydney, Australia.

“I call on all Lions clubs to organize at least one activity for Lions World Sight Day in October to help preserve and restore sight in their community or around the world,” says President Mehta.

A LWSD planning guide with suggested activities and publicity assistance can be downloaded from the Web site.