Thousands of Lions clubs worldwide marked the day by holding local events that underscored blindness as a critical health concern. Eye screenings, eyeglasses recycling drives and educational efforts were some of the ways in which clubs celebrated the third annual Lions World Sight Day. The association commemorated Lions World Sight Day in Beijing, China, with several events that spanned three days. On Tuesday, October 10, the SightFirst China Action project was spotlighted as Lions Clubs President Jean Behar took a tour of one of the project's hospitals. There, he witnessed a surgery and met patients being treated at the facility.
Children wait patiently to be photoscreened.
Photoscreening can detect several eye diseases in pre-literate children. The next day at the hospital, nearly 1,400 pre-literate children were screened by an international contingent of eye health professionals. The children were screened using a technique called photoscreening, which had previously been unavailable in China. The photoscreening event in Beijing symbolized Lions' international commitment to eliminating preventable and reversible blindness. On Thursday, October 12, a news conference was held in China's Great Hall of the People.