National Eye Health Week 2020 dates announced

Supporting resources will once again be available

Eye Health UK has announced that National Eye Health Week (NEHW) 2020 will take place from 21-27 September.

Building on the success of the 2019 campaign – which was supported by more than 3,000 organisations including the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England – this year’s campaign will once again focus on raising awareness of eyecare and the prevention of avoidable sight loss.

David Cartwright, chair of Eye Health UK, the charity responsible for running the Week, said: “We hope to encourage everyone with an interest in vision and eye health to come together this September to promote engaging eye health messages and create a public health campaign that has a positive and tangible impact on the nation’s eye health.”

Highlights from NEHW 2019 included the production of a supporter resource pack, the publication of Vista magazine, a nationwide poster campaign, the launch of an online vision simulator giving people a glimpse of what it’s like to live with four common causes of sight loss, the publication of eye health supplements in the national press, a media relations campaign (generating 218 million opportunities to see positive eye health messages), a social conversation with a reach in excessive of 66 million, and The Big Blink – an initiative aimed at improving eye health in the workplace.

A Populus Omnibus Survey of 1,094 UK adults between 2-3 October 2019 found that one in four UK adults said they remembered seeing, hearing or reading something about eye health during the campaign. Of these, 74 per cent said they were encouraged to take better care of their eyes, doing things like booking an eye examination (37 per cent) or stopping smoking (seven per cent).

Sixty per cent of optical practices responding to the NEHW 2019 supporter evaluation survey reported an increase in sight tests in and around the week.

David added: “National Eye Health Week achieves a great deal on limited resources and has built strong foundations on which to leverage the ‘prevention’ ‘agenda and significantly raise the profile of optics. To fulfil the potential of National Eye Health Week requires substantial investment, so watch this space for future funding appeals.”

To join the NEHW supporter mailing list or for information about sponsorship opportunities and other ways to get involved in National Eye Health Week 2020, email info@visionmatters.org.uk