Eye Care Awareness Month is commemorated from 21 September to 18 October to raise awareness about the importance of eye health, specifically around the prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness.
Seventy-five percent of all cases of blindness is avoidable either through prevention or through treatment – which is why is important to get your eyes tested at least once per year.
Symptoms of eye conditions can include:
- vision loss
- altered eye movements
- eye pain
- visual field loss
- bulging eye.
Countries are already starting to promote the importance of eye and vision care by participating in some or all of the observances listed by the World Council of Optometry. Different campaigns are actually spread throughout the year to attend to different issues that affect the eye.
In the Philippines, we are only in our 3rd year of holding an eye care campaign and we do it on a different timing. Spearheaded by the leading eye drop brand Eye Mo, the nationwide campaign highlights the company’s strong commitment to spreading eye care awareness by combating the five signs of eye irritation, namely, sore, itchy, red, watery, and dry eyes.
This year, they ran the campaign for the whole month of August, they appropriately dubbed #EyeCan – Join #myREDvolution. This is actually a continuation of their original campaign launched in 2017 which they called “Eyes Mo, Care Mo.”
Their 2019 stint aimed to challenge the so-called millenials in the society to be aware of their social responsibility in spreading awareness on eye care. In line with this goal, Eye Mo appointed the youth to actively participate in their series of activities which included lectures, arts, charity environment, and health events. This goes in symphony with Eye Mo’s advocacy for proper eye education and eye care, which are crucial to a person’s overall health.
Eye Mo Philippines’ Marketing Head, Earl Jayona, shared about the new challenge:
“We launched the first eye care awareness campaign in 2017 to educate people on the importance of healthy eyesight. Every year, we want to build on what we have achieved, so that we can reach out to more people and educate them on proper eye care. This year, we are spreading the advocacy further by taking it to communities, through a series of CSR initiatives that can help push the message forward and inspire millennials to promote social awareness and positive change.”
Also a part of the program is the launch of NECAM which serves as a team to make rounds on Ph schools via concert tours, using music to spread awareness on eye care. A short documentary film will also be launched featuring five outstanding millennials who have contributed positively to society. Of course, the stories are geared towards inspiring all other youths to contribute to changing the nation for the better.
Giving away free Eye Mo products that people can use is still a part of this year’s campaign. Free eye check-ups are also being given to help address the neglected signs of possible eye diseases.
#EyeCan – Join myREDvolution won’t be short of doing community services too. This is to eliminate all the eyesores in the community through clean up drives. Tree planting will also be done at the Baseco Compound with the support of government and non-government organizations. The company urged numerous communities through school orgs and SK groups to push the activities as well as painting the towns with murals to beautify communities in the Philippines.
Finally, Eye Mo is partnering with TV5’s AlagangKapatid Foundation on a feeding program.
For more information, please visit www.eyemoph.com or check out @EyeMoPH on Facebook.