Dec. 28, 2021 — Prevent Blindness has declared 2022 the “Year of Children’s Vision.” 

The organization shares that its goal is to highlight and address the diverse and critical vision and eye health needs of children and to improve outcomes through advocacy, public health, education, and awareness. Common vision disorders in children include amblyopia (lazy eye), strabismus (crossed eyes), and refractive error, including myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.
 
“The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact the vision health of all of us, including our children,” says Donna Fishman, director of the National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness (NCCVEH). “With significant increases in digital screen time, the widening gap in access to care that has created larger disparities, and the lack of direct funding for children’s vision programs at the state and national levels, the time has never been more crucial to make our children’s vision a priority today to save their sight in the future.”
 
According to a recent NCCVEH report, vision is crucial in children’s physical, cognitive, and social development, yet, up to 1 in 5 young children has an undiagnosed vision disorder. Prevent Blindness also shares that the the annual economic costs of children’s vision disorders are approximately $10 billion in the U.S.
 
To help address these concerns, Prevent Blindness shares it is launching the following initiatives for the Year of Children’s Vision (additional programs will be announced throughout the year):

• Provide families, caregivers, and professionals with free educational materials and resources on a variety of eye health topics including visual disorders and eye safety recommendations.
• Continue efforts to inform and work with policymakers on opportunities to address children’s vision and eye health as part of early childhood development, education, health equity, and public health.
• Conduct a series of free webinars, hosted by the NCCVEH, including topics such as vision health of children with special needs, and workshops from the Better Vision Together community and state coalitions.
• Expand the reach of the NCCVEH-convened Children’s Vision Equity Alliance.
• Lead efforts to promote new research into children’s eye and vision health.
• Launch various social media campaigns on specific children’s vision topics and issues. Campaigns to include the #YOCV in posts. Followers will be asked to include the hashtag in their posts. 
• Conduct various programs throughout the Prevent Blindness affiliate network dedicated to advancing children’s vision, including vision screening events and health fairs, Person of Vision award ceremonies, recognition of state and local advocates, and more.  

“Prevent Blindness was founded to advocate for the eradication a form of infant blindness that was rampant at the turn of the century,” says Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness. “While we have grown to address all vision and eye health conditions across the lifespan, children’s vision remains a cornerstone of our work. With 2022’s Year of Children’s Vision, we look forward to revisiting our legacy, and exploring a future where all children benefit from equitable and accessible eye care.”