LONG BEACH, NY, October 15, 2008
/24-7PressRelease/ -- In an effort to bring global attention to blindness and vision impairment, October 9th is designated World Sight Day (WSD). This annual event aims to raise public awareness of blindness and vision impairment. The Vision 2020 Global Initiative along with BiCOM Inc. supports WSD in all public education events. These health concerns are currently not at the forefront of global health issues, and WSD hopes to bring these preventable health problems into focus. Vision 2020 members hope to influence members of government to participate in and designate funds to national blindness prevention programs. BiCOM Inc. has a long history in supporting efforts to increase community awareness of preventable blindness. According to The International Agency for Prevention of Blindness, every five seconds someone loses their vision needlessly. By working in tandem to support initiatives of education, we can save the sight of millions.
To raise awareness about the threat of glaucoma, BiCOM Inc. has previously joined forces with local non profit organizations. BiCOM helped to conduct intraocular "eye" pressure (IOP) screenings with their portable, non-invasive (through the eyelid) Tonometer Diaton and providing materials about glaucoma prevention to the public. BiCOM also trained members of local community health actions to screen using Tonometer Diaton, allowing the community to be aware of health problems they should be concerned with. BiCOM's goal is to not only educate the public on how important it is to regularly get screened for Glaucoma, but make the actual screening accessible to those who need it the most. By cooperating with non profits, BiCOM is able to reach out to the community and answer questions that many people forget to ask or do not have the access to a Doctor to ask, due to no medical coverage.
BiCOM Inc. in conjunction with The Lions Clubs of Staten Island held an educational/screening event to detect and prevent glaucoma using hand held tonometer Diaton . Lions Club members are now planning to add painless Diaton tonometry to their health screening events. BiCOM Inc. held a very successful screening event at The Staten Island Ferry on World Glaucoma Day. BiCOM's awareness campaign reached over 2,000,000 eyes. In addition, Whoopi Goldberg has noted BiCOM's initiatives and the World Glaucoma Day on her morning program.
Roman Iospa, the CEO of BiCOM has interviewed Mr. Eric "Ricky" McKinnie, the drummer/vocalist and tour manager for the world-renowned, four-time Grammy winning band The Blind Boys of Alabama. http://www.rickymckinnie.com Mr. McKinnie lost his sight due to glaucoma in 1975 but has continued to excel far beyond his own imagination.
"Glaucoma is like high blood pressure & diabetes - you have to check your eye pressure regularly so that your sight doesn't close on you." Mr. McKinnie stated in the interview, adding, "Remember, every time that you see a rainbow - it doesn't mean its gold, because a rainbow can mean Glaucoma."
BiCOM Inc. cooperates with national and international for-profit and non-for-profit organizations to increase awareness and promote mass screenings with the help of Diaton Tonometer . The eye care community is rapidly embracing Tonometer Diaton as a safe, easy and accurate way to indicate high IOP levels, the precursor to Glaucoma. Early detection of elevated intraocular pressure can aid Doctors to take preventative measures keeping vision loss from occurring, or preventing further loss of sight. Without major intervention, the number of blind people worldwide is estimated to increase to 76 million by 2020. By taking steps to raise awareness globally through screening events and educational outreach, we are preserving sight and teaching future generations that IOP screenings are as important as regular check-ups from your physician. 75% of blindness is avoidable, World Sight Day is a wake-up call to the public to take action and preserve vision.
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