The 1st World Glaucoma Day

March 6th, 2008

Dear Colleagues

March 6th 2008 will be the first ever World Glaucoma Day (WGD), a joint global
initiative of the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) and the World Glaucoma
Patient Association (WGPA)

Because glaucoma is a progressive disease causing irreversible visual loss, usually without warning until relatively advanced, and because 50% of affected people in the developed world - and up to 90% in developing countries - do not know they have it and are not on treatment, we believe that community awareness needs to be significantly increased. This includes awareness of the disease and of the need to have regular eye checks, thereby permitting earlier detection and avoidance of what should be preventable
visual disability.

We will work for recognition and support by national and international organizations and governments in various ways, such as issuing commemorative stamps and media releases. WGA and WGPA will encourage and support, by providing promotional material, local activities such as newspaper articles, radio and television coverage as well
as "screening" campaigns in public places and "open-door" days at glaucoma clinics and departments of ophthalmology.

WGA and WGPA would like to enlist your support in making the World Glaucoma
day a success. As a WGA Committee member, you can contribute to this goal by
leveraging your prestige and network to encourage glaucoma specialists and other ophthalmologists to organize local activities in their home towns and institutions, and by providing them with official backing (such as endorsement letters to local authorities, hospital administrations, etc.) whenever appropriate. As time is of essence, we would very much appreciate if you could start at your earliest convenience.

To assist the organization of any local events and activities in your country, a "local coordinator" will be appointed shortly, whose role will be to list and keep track of all activities in its territory, so that a global inventory of activities can be maintained and made globally available to ophthalmologists, patients and the public at large, through the WGD website (www.wgd.org). We will communicate the name of the local coordinator shortly.

As further assistance, we attach an Expression-of-Interest form (which we encourage you to distribute as an "idea-generator" to ophthalmologists that you are in contact with through your WGA Committee). We also provide you shortly with a couple of PowerPoint promotional slides that we would suggest that you show at the end of your presentations in conferences or lectures.
Thank you for your support in this exciting project. We look forward to hearing from you.

With kind regards,
Scott Christensen
Ivan Goldberg
George Lambrou
Robert Ritch

 

highlights 2008

 

Mamelodi, Pretoria


The First World Glaucoma Day - Cape Town

1. Tygerberg Hospital and Groote Schuur Hospital did glaucoma screening and
handed out pamphlets

2. Lions Club of Cape Town were advertising World Glaucoma Day at the Waterfront Shopping Centre, Retina SA at Tygervalley Shopping Centre. The SA Guide Dog Association advertised at the Good Hope Centre where 35 000 cyclists and their families were registering for the Argus Cycling Race. SAGS published an article on glaucoma in the Weekend Argus and Dr. Ellen Ancker spoke on Cape Talk Radio and Radio SAFM. 
Dr. Ellen Ancker had a post-event briefing meeting with all roll players to prepare for even better exposure in 2009.

Tygervalley World Glaucoma Day


Waterfront World Glaucoma Day


Glaucoma Day, expression of interest form