October 09, 2025
2 min read
Key takeaways:
- Optometrists, students and the ophthalmic industry raise funds for Optometry Giving Sight’s World Sight Day Challenge.
- Optometry Giving Sight has helped establish 14 optometry schools.
BOSTON — The ophthalmic industry recognized World Sight Day on Oct. 9 as it gathered in Boston for Academy 2025.
Optometry Giving Sight’s World Sight Day Challenge, spanning Sept. 1 through Oct. 31, supports its “mission to eradicate uncorrected refractive error through the growth and expansion of optometry around the world,” the group said in a press release. The second Thursday of every October is acknowledged as World Sight Day.

Optometrists, students and the ophthalmic industry work to raise funds for the group’s annual program, which has granted more than $8 million to support the provision of vision care for more than 15 million people around the world.
“It’s fitting that World Sight Day falls during the academy meeting — a time when optometry comes together to learn, connect and advance the future of vision care,” Optometry Giving Sight Executive Director Donna J. Mikulecky told Healio. “Optometry Giving Sight remains dedicated to expanding access to vision care and advancing a world where preventable blindness is a thing of the past. We are proud to celebrate at Academy 2025 the incredible work of the optometry community — professionals, partners and donors — who make it possible to bring vision and hope to those most in need. Together, we are making sight a global priority.”
Mikulecky said in the press release: “More than 1 billion people worldwide suffer from vision impairment and blindness simply because they don’t have access to eye exams and eyeglasses. The programs we fund provide exams and glasses but also fund the establishment and development of the optometry profession so eye care is available today and well into the future.”
According to the release, Optometry Giving Sight has helped establish 14 optometry schools, built 130 vision centers and trained more than 14,000 optometry personnel in more than 50 countries.

Cindy Tromans
World Council of Optometry President Cindy Tromans, OD, issued a statement: “World Sight Day is an important moment each year to shine a light on the power of comprehensive eye care. This year, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness #LoveYourEyes campaign continues to remind everyone, everywhere, to prioritize their own eye health, while calling for accessible, available and affordable eye care for all. … Optometry must be fully integrated into people-centered eye care systems that strengthen referral pathways, leverage team-based delivery and align with global efforts from the World Health Organization and the United Nations to ensure universal access to eye care.”
“Optometry is uniquely positioned to expand its role in primary care, improve early detection, reduce unnecessary referrals and help achieve the sustainable development goals through equitable and cost-effective care.”
Prevent Blindness said in a press release that its National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health, in conjunction with the National Association of School Nurses, is offering a World Sight Day tool kit to teachers and parents to provide downloadable bookmarks, stickers and coloring pages.
Also, in conjunction with the Vision Health Advocacy Coalition and with funding support from Amgen, Prevent Blindness is cohosting an informational webinar on thyroid eye disease on World Sight Day.
Learn more about the 2025 World Sight Day Challenge at https://givingsight.org/wsdc/.