March 31, 2022 — Prevent Blindness has declared April as Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month. The nonprofit organization will release educational videos, fact sheets, and graphics on topics related to women’s vision and eye health throughout the month.
 
According to Prevent Blindness, women are at higher risk for vision impairment and blindness than men yet are less likely to receive treatment. According to “The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health: vision beyond 2020,” the gender imbalance can be attributed to demographic and social factors, such as women living longer than men and women having reduced access to care, respectively.
 
According to findings from the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR), the following eye conditions occur more frequently in women:

• Twenty-six percent more women than men over the age of 12 have uncorrected visual impairment due to refractive error.
• Two times more women than men over the age of 50 have dry eye disease.
• Sixty-five percent of the U.S. population with age-related macular degeneration are women.
• Sixty-one percent of the U.S. population with cataracts are women.
• Sixty-seven percent of the U.S. population with glaucoma are women.
• Thyroid Eye Disease is five to six times more common in women than men.

 
Recently, Prevent Blindness collaborated with SWHR and other leading organizations to develop the SWHR Patient Toolkit: A Guide to Women’s Eye Health. The toolkit intends to empower individuals to navigate their own vision care and facilitate productive conversations between doctors and patients.
 
As part of April’s Women’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month, Prevent Blindness will debut “Diabetes, Vision Loss, and Mental Wellness,” a new installment of the Diabetes + the Eyes educational series. The video will feature patient advocate Serena Valentine, mental health expert Melissa Taussig, and diabetes specialist Lisa Golden. Additionally, Janine Austin Clayton, M.D., FARVO, associate director for Research on Women's Health and director at the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health, will join Jeff Todd, president and CEO of Prevent Blindness, for a new episode in the Focus on Eye Health Expert Series. Dr. Clayton will discuss a variety of topics including eye disease in women, research, inequities in access to eye care, and the impact of vision loss on mental health.
 
By providing a variety of free resources, the nonprofit aims to help educate the public about women’s increased risk of vision health issues. Videos, fact sheets, shareable social media graphics, and more can be found at preventblindness.org.