Supporting National Eye Health Week 2024
23 September 2024
This week is National Eye Health Week (NEHW). Run each year by the charity Eye Health UK, it sets out to promote the importance of good eye health and the need for regular eye tests for all. The campaign represents the biggest and most effective independent public eye health promotion event in the UK, sharing important eye care advice with millions of people.
As one of the country’s leading NHS eye care services providers, Primary Eyecare Services fully support and welcome the NEHW campaign and are actively engaging in its promotion via our social media channels. We are also going to be proactively involving our wider workforce by running a staff quiz to raise awareness about the campaign’s key messages.
Each day of the campaign reflects a different eye health theme:
- Monday 23 – Routine eye tests and vision screening
- Tuesday 24 – Enhanced eye care services
- Wednesday 25 – How children and teenagers can maintain eye health
- Thursday 26 – Understanding colour blindness
- Friday 27 – Sight after sixty
- Saturday 28 – Affordable eye care
- Saturday 29 – Live well to see well
Encouraging Individuals to Make Healthier Lifestyle Choices
Speaking about the importance of the annual NEHW promotion, David Cartwright, chair of Eye Health UK, said:
‘Good eye care is essential for good general health, yet awareness of its importance remains low across important groups, including the public and policy-makers. Far too many people don’t currently access primary eye care services and continue to adopt lifestyle habits that needlessly increase their risk of living with sight loss or poor eye health. NEHW provides a unique platform to put eye care at the heart of the NHS’ prevention programme, ensuring early detection of disease.’
The Primary Eyecare Services CEO, Dharmesh Patel, also voiced his support and enthusiasm for the week, saying:
‘As we embark on the 2024 National Eye Health Week, I am proud to support this vital initiative that raises awareness about the importance of eye health for everyone and, in particular, how crucial for preventing avoidable vision loss. Working together, we can ensure better vision care, early diagnosis and improved quality of life for all.’
VISTA Magazine 2024: Sharing Real-Life Vision Success Stories
The campaign has also published its annual consumer eye health magazine containing hints and tips on seeing well, and case studies about real people and the different vision challenges they have faced and successfully overcome.
VISTA will also be distributed in hard copy format with the September edition of Dispensing Optics. A digital copy is available here.