Eyes of the world has launched a health literacy project for the young populations of Catalonia, children and the youth, with the support of “la Caixa” Foundation, entitled #EyeHealthForAll.
The project assumes that there is a general lack of awareness among the population about eye diseases and good eye health practices when, indeed, it is essential to raise awareness to treat eye conditions and reduce vision deterioration. This lack of knowledge is more evident in the case of the young populations that suffer from the consequences of vision loss, when it could be avoided.
The number of school-age children who need care will continue to increase between now and 2050, making it difficult to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
There are solutions to prevent this from happening, but efforts must be made to improve the ophthalmological literacy of this section of the population.
In this sense, through the #EyeHealthForAll initiative, the Foundation intends to publicize and deepen the priority areas of eye health promotion and education, mainly in childhood and adolescence, such as:
- Changing behaviors to delay the onset and progression of myopia. Emphasizing, especially, the need to provide information on the harmful use of screens and intensive activities related to near vision as a risk factor. And also, the need to spend more time outdoors (as a protective factor) to reduce the onset and progression of myopia and advanced myopia.
- The use of glasses. Facilitating information on the importance of being strict and complying with glasses to avoid the negative impact of uncorrected refractive errors on academic performance and other aspects of the life of minors and adolescents.
- Nutrition and immunization to prevent secondary eye diseases. Going deeper into nutritional education and giving tips to a healthy diet rich in Vitamin A, as well as the importance of vaccination against measles or rubella.
The project combines face-to-face activities, framed in the school context, with online actions (web and social networks) to scale the audience and reach a larger population through digital proposals adapted to current society and the generational change in communication.
