To mark World Sight Day, Auckland libraries displayed EHA posters about eyecare

New Zealand’s first Children’s Eye Health Campaign, run by Eye Health Aotearoa (EHA), concluded on World Sight Day, 10 October.

The campaign was fun, well-supported and engaged students across New Zealand’s intermediate schools, said Inhae Park, EHA trustee and council member of the New Zealand Association of Optometrists. “It was a successful campaign, reaching a wide audience with important messages on how children can take care of their eyes. Eye Health Aotearoa is looking to build on this campaign next year.”

Aiming to raise awareness and educate children on the behavioural changes they could make to reduce the risk of myopia, EHA developed key messages following a review of the literature, liaising with eyecare professionals and consulting the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) knowledge hub, she said. The resources developed for the Children’s Eye Health Campaign, both digital and printed, contributed greatly to the overall success, Park said. “These resources, translated into te reo Māori, Samoan and Mandarin, were also utilised on World Sight Day when EHA collaborated with Auckland’s libraries to raise awareness of the importance of looking after your eyes at all stages of life.”

A pilot sensory art competition was also run in three Auckland schools. “The students created wonderful artwork that would be engaging to blind or low-vision people by focusing on non-visual senses,” Park said. “Overall, the children and teachers were enthusiastic about the campaign, they enjoyed the strategies used and the children appeared to retain the key messages.”

EHA said it would like to thank the campaign funders, One Foundation and The Potter Masonic Trust, plus all the participating children, schools and organisations.

Love Your Eyes

Te Whatu Ora celebrated World Sight Day again this year with displays in both Auckland City Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre, highlighting the IAPB’s theme of ‘Love Your Eyes’. Focusing on low vision and blindness support available to assist people in Aotearoa, Te Whatu Ora shared a video highlighting the low-vision services at Greenlane Clinical Centre and its impact on one patient, Monica Patel, said low-vision coordinator Sandy Grant. “Thank you to all our community agencies who attended the day or provided support materials, including Blind Low Vision NZ, Blind and Vision Education Network of NZ, Glaucoma NZ, Kāpō Māori Aoteaora, Macular Degeneration NZ, Retina NZ, the University of Auckland Optometry Clinic and Vision Rehabilitation Services. A shout-out to Optima for their support, too.”

Marking WSD at Auckland City Hospital, L to R: Sandy Grant, Doreen Morrison, Jenna Tuuta, Deborah Gibson-Hardie, Riley Allomees, Nasim Ali and Raewyne Lovich