{"id":10147,"date":"2024-09-22T09:11:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-22T13:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/?p=10147"},"modified":"2024-10-25T22:43:58","modified_gmt":"2024-10-26T02:43:58","slug":"october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every October, World Blindness Awareness Month brings attention to the daily challenges faced by the blind and visually impaired community. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), \u201c<em>everyone, if they live long enough, will experience at least one eye disease or disorder in their lifetime<\/em>.&#8221;<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-8450 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1696265323483-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Two globally recognized blindness outreach organizations &#8212; <a href=\"https:\/\/nfb.org\/\">The National Federation of the Blind<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iapb.org\/\">The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness<\/a> &#8212; offer multiple helpful resources to individuals and their families who are affected directly or indirectly by the daily challenges of severe visual impairment and total blindness.<\/p>\n<p>Of the estimated 1.3 billion people worldwide who suffer from blindness caused by refractive error, cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and other conditions, the WHO estimates about 80% of these cases are preventable. Read the American Association of Ophthalmology (AAO)\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aao.org\/eye-health\/tips-prevention\/20-ways-aging-changes-your-eyes\"><strong>21 Ways Aging Changes Your Eyes<\/strong><\/a> to learn more on changes in the eyes that come with age and lead to worsening eyesight as individuals grow older.<\/p>\n<p>By age 40, all asymptomatic adults should have a first-time comprehensive eye exam. Call UNC Kittner Eye Center at <strong>984-974-2020<\/strong> today to schedule your comprehensive eye exam with a UNC Ophthalmology ophthalmologist or optometrist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every October, World Blindness Awareness Month brings attention to the daily challenges faced by the blind and visually impaired community. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), \u201ceveryone, if they live long enough, will experience at least one eye disease or disorder in their lifetime.&#8221; Two globally recognized blindness outreach organizations &#8212; The National Federation &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about October Is World Blindness Awareness Month!\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17488,"featured_media":8450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>October Is World Blindness Awareness Month! | Department of Ophthalmology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month! | Department of Ophthalmology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Every October, World Blindness Awareness Month brings attention to the daily challenges faced by the blind and visually impaired community. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), \u201ceveryone, if they live long enough, will experience at least one eye disease or disorder in their lifetime.&#8221; Two globally recognized blindness outreach organizations &#8212; The National Federation &hellip; Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Ophthalmology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-22T13:11:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-26T02:43:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1696265323483.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"354\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"354\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laurie Birdsong\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laurie Birdsong\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laurie Birdsong\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/person\/a598fa85ceecbf678e76a6c144ef680c\"},\"headline\":\"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month!\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-22T13:11:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-26T02:43:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/\"},\"wordCount\":198,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/\",\"name\":\"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month! | Department of Ophthalmology\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-22T13:11:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-26T02:43:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/\",\"name\":\"Department of Ophthalmology\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UNC Department of Ophthalmology\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2018\/08\/Ophthalmology_logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2018\/08\/Ophthalmology_logo.png\",\"width\":800,\"height\":122,\"caption\":\"UNC Department of Ophthalmology\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/person\/a598fa85ceecbf678e76a6c144ef680c\",\"name\":\"Laurie Birdsong\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/190c4aad69257ee20b4adaf73ba4e7c1fdc51358f9c881e8dacd90b1743ae514?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/190c4aad69257ee20b4adaf73ba4e7c1fdc51358f9c881e8dacd90b1743ae514?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Laurie Birdsong\"},\"description\":\"Radiology\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/author\/bazemore\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month! | Department of Ophthalmology","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month! | Department of Ophthalmology","og_description":"Every October, World Blindness Awareness Month brings attention to the daily challenges faced by the blind and visually impaired community. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), \u201ceveryone, if they live long enough, will experience at least one eye disease or disorder in their lifetime.&#8221; Two globally recognized blindness outreach organizations &#8212; The National Federation &hellip; Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/","og_site_name":"Department of Ophthalmology","article_published_time":"2024-09-22T13:11:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-26T02:43:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":354,"height":354,"url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1696265323483.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Laurie Birdsong","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laurie Birdsong","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/"},"author":{"name":"Laurie Birdsong","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/person\/a598fa85ceecbf678e76a6c144ef680c"},"headline":"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month!","datePublished":"2024-09-22T13:11:13+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-26T02:43:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/"},"wordCount":198,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/","name":"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month! | Department of Ophthalmology","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png","datePublished":"2024-09-22T13:11:13+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-26T02:43:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png","width":250,"height":250},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/2024\/09\/october-is-world-blindness-awareness-month-2024\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"October Is World Blindness Awareness Month!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/","name":"Department of Ophthalmology","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#organization","name":"UNC Department of Ophthalmology","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2018\/08\/Ophthalmology_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2018\/08\/Ophthalmology_logo.png","width":800,"height":122,"caption":"UNC Department of Ophthalmology"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/person\/a598fa85ceecbf678e76a6c144ef680c","name":"Laurie Birdsong","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/190c4aad69257ee20b4adaf73ba4e7c1fdc51358f9c881e8dacd90b1743ae514?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/190c4aad69257ee20b4adaf73ba4e7c1fdc51358f9c881e8dacd90b1743ae514?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Laurie Birdsong"},"description":"Radiology","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/author\/bazemore\/"}]}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png","featured_image_medium":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1696265323483-300x300.png","featured_image_medium_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png","featured_image_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1759768462549.png","featured_image_thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1268\/2023\/10\/Oct-World-Blindness-Awareness-Month-e1696265323483-150x150.png","featured_image_alt":"","category_details":[{"name":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/category\/news\/"}],"tag_details":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17488"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/ophth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}