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HELPMESEE LAUNCHES UNIQUE CAMPAIGN TO  CELEBRATE GRANDPARENTS' DAY

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MEANINGFUL PROMOTION HONORS GRANDPARENTS AND BRINGS AWARENESS TO ISSUE OF CATARACT BLINDNESS WITHIN AGING POPULATIONS 


Grandparents’ Day is September 7thand HelpMeSee invites everyone to honor his or her grandparent(s) by raising awareness of the impact of cataracts in senior populations worldwide and making a donation to save the sight of an elderly person suffering from cataract blindness in developing countries. The campaign includes social engagement encouraging people to share their favorite photo taken with their grandparent. By tagging #grandparentsday and #helpmesee together, HelpMeSee will share photos submitted through its string of social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram). In addition, HelpMeSee has developed a customizable e-card participants can share with their grandparents and loved ones.

https://www.helpmesee.org/DonateTribute.aspx?cid=92&cmp=GrandparentsDay2014

The campaign also offers a dedicated Grandparents’ Day infographic that can be shared with family and friends detailing the numbers behind how deeply cataracts impact our elderly worldwide. HelpMeSee is utilizing Grandparents’ Day as an opportunity to build more public education around this issue and unite the three million people impacted by cataracts in the US and their families around our program solution.

HelpMeSee invites you to share these graphics along with your favorite photo with grandma and/or grandpa to help share a campaign aimed at providing cataract surgery to those living in developing countries.

Visit the HelpMeSee website homepage to participate in this campaign – www.helpmesee.org.

Access to Care Much Different in Developing Countries

Each year, millions of Americans are affected by cataracts, and as our grandparents and parents age, the condition becomes far more likely. Most Americans have access to effective care, often covered by insurance or Medicare. But for those in developing countries, those options simply are not available and many who have cataracts become blind.

Those without access to affordable cataract treatment lose much of their dignity - they can no longer work, their children drop out of school to take care of them, and they can’t provide for their families. Their life expectancy also drops to a third of what it would be if they didn’t have cataracts. An affordable surgery can change that and help restore dignity to those who are blind from a treatable condition. 

According to the World Health Organization, two-thirds of those suffering from visual impairment are over 50, and “With an increasing elderly population in many countries, more people will be at risk of visual impairment due to chronic eye diseases and ageing processes.” 

Untreated cataracts are the leading cause of blindness throughout the world. In developing countries, blindness and visual impairment can have an enormous negative impact on quality of life as well as reducing life expectancy and economic productivity. There are also severe social and economic burdens placed on their families and caretakers. Despite current efforts, the numbers will continue to increase.

  • 1.14 billion people over 55 globally affected
  • 22 million people are blind from cataracts
  • 51% of blindness globally is caused by cataracts
  • 90% of visually impaired live in developing countries (WHO)
  • With cataracts, life expectancy becomes 1/3 that of the norm

HelpMeSee’s Solution 

HelpMeSee is a groundbreaking campaign to solve the crisis of cataract blindness. Using a unique model of best-in-class surgical partners and innovative technologies, we plan to eliminate cataract blindness globally within the next 20 years.

HelpMeSee is collaborating with a network of the most respected eye care specialists worldwide, combined with breakthrough simulator technology, to train 30,000 cataract surgical specialists who will deliver sight-saving surgery throughout the developing world where the need is greatest. HelpMeSee, together with our local surgical partners, is committed to saving the sight of 22 million people worldwide over the next twenty years to effectively eliminate cataract blindness.