The head of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and all CNIB staff members from Alberta gathered in Red Deer on Tuesday to kick off Vision Health Month.
John Rafferty, president of the CNIB, explained that the organization will launch its inaugural month-long campaign May 1 to encourage Canadians to take care of their vision.
“We as Canadians are more likely to pay attention to our teeth than our eyes between the age of 20 and 65,” he said.
“We need to take an opportunity once a year in Canada to concentrate all of our messaging into one month to allow people to just say, ‘You know what, my eyes are really important. My vision is critical to me. I need to be reminded to do something about it.’ ”
The CNIB is, therefore, launching a new initiative during May to remind people they also must be proactive in protecting the health of their eyes.
Shades of Fun Day calls on Canadians to wear their sunglasses all day on May 27 in an effort to learn about the harmful impact ultraviolet rays have on eyes.
“Protection from UV is critical to eye health,” Rafferty said as he and about 80 CNIB staff members put on their shades at the Black Knight Inn to help promote the upcoming event.
“Only nine per cent of Canadians know that the protection of your eyes from UV rays is something that has significant impact on your vision health.”
Canadians know it’s important to apply sun block to avoid skin cancer but very few know that UV exposure also has damaging effects on the eyes by increasing the risk of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, which is the leading cause of vision loss in the country.
“There are a lot of scary things to do with losing your vision,” Rafferty said.
And the CNIB statistics are staggering.
Approximately 836,000 Canadians live with vision loss and an additional 4.25 million citizens live with some form of age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma or cataracts.
Every year, 43,800 Canadians lose their vision despite the fact that 75 per cent of vision loss is preventable.
“We don’t want our messaging to be about the scary side of the fear that Canadians have,” Rafferty said. “We want it to be about the positive, how can you avoid (eye loss).
“We’d love to see millions of Canadians wearing their sunglasses. And let’s be silly about it, have fun.”
The CNIB hopes people will also take the initiative to raise funds during the event. The national organization relies heavily on fundraising as only about 23 per cent of its funding comes from the government.
A tool kit is provided online to guide individuals, schools and companies on how they can use Shades of Fun Day to help raise money for the CNIB, which provides services for those suffering from vision loss.
The primary goal, however, of Vision Health Month and Shades of Fun remains as an effort to educate Canadians on ways to protect their eyes, Rafferty said.
“It’s a great, fun way to help increase awareness, education and funds for CNIB,” agreed Rosane Butz, co-ordinator of community development and administrative support for the CNIB in Red Deer.
Vision Risk Assessments will also be made available in May to educate individuals about their risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
For more information about the CNIB and Shades of Fun Day, visit www.cnib.ca and www.shadesoffunday.ca
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com