Apart from losing life, there is nothing more terrifying than losing vision. "Recently, at this year's" National Eye Day "press conference, Wang Ningli, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and leader of the National Blind Prevention Technical Guidance Group, once again called on everyone to take care of their eyes and pay attention to eye health.
In 1999, the World Health Organization and the International Association for the Prevention of Blindness launched the "Vision 2020" global initiative, proposing to eliminate avoidable blindness (cataracts, trachoma, river blindness, childhood blindness, low vision, and refractive errors) worldwide by 2020, reversing the trend of avoidable visual impairment potentially doubling between 1990 and 2020.
China is the first country in the Western Pacific region to launch the "Vision 2020" initiative. In 2016, the "Thirteenth Five Year Plan" for National Eye Health was formulated and implemented. This year is the target year of the "Vision 2020" action plan, the year when the "Thirteenth Five Year Plan for National Eye Health" comes to an end, and also the year when the decisive battle for poverty alleviation through health is won.
Without eye health, there can be no great health. Promoting great health is the key to promoting eye health, and without great health, there can be no healthy China, "said Wang Ningli.
Myopia is not just about wearing glasses
According to a survey, the overall myopia rate among children and adolescents in China was 53.6% in 2018. Among them, 36% are elementary school students, 71.6% are junior high school students, and 81% are high school students. Myopia in ametropia is the eye health problem with the highest incidence rate and the largest age span in the world. Among them, high myopia retinopathy accounts for a considerable proportion of the causes of blindness.
Many young people have a misconception - isn't myopia just about wearing glasses? Actually, it's not like that. Once myopia occurs, it is irreversible, especially in children who develop myopia at a young age, they are more likely to become highly myopic, leading to visual impairment and even blindness in old age.