Webcast aims to raise awareness of blindness as global problem

October 14, 1999
Web posted at: 10:41 a.m. EDT (1441 GMT)

	WORLD SIGHT DAY WEBCAST
Live webcast of sight-saving surgeries and imformation about eye care.

(CNN) -- In an effort to raise public awareness of worldwide efforts to prevent and reverse blindness, the Lions Clubs International's second annual World Sight Day conference is being Webcast live from Kenya.

The Webcast on Thursday will include footage of cataract patients from villages in Kenya receiving sight-restoring surgeries, a special address from former-President Jimmy Carter, and information from the World Health Organization (WHO) on eye health.

"One of the reasons we selected Kenya as the primary location for World Sight Day is that nearly 80 percent of the world's blind live in Asia and Africa," said Lions Clubs International President James Ervin.

WHO estimates that more than 40 million people worldwide are blind. But according to the Lions, nearly 80 percent of blindness is preventable.

"Lions clubs are doing work with the visually impaired in more than 185 countries. We hope that our Webcast will inform people that blindness is a major global problem and we need everyone's help to eliminate it," said Ervin.