New PSA Campaign Promotes Better Eye Health

Targeting the growing rates of glaucoma and macular degeneration, the BrightFocus Foundation today launched a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign, “Make a Plan Today: Get Your Eyes Checked.”

“Regular eye exams can help prevent vision loss and better control any damage that may have already occurred,” said Stacy Pagos Haller, BrightFocus president and CEO, who added that many vision diseases have no symptoms in their early stages. “The goal of our campaign is to help people take better charge of their eye health,” Haller said.

BrightFocus, a nonprofit that funds research and educates the public on eye and brain diseases, said that Baby Boomers, who are turning age 65 a rate of 10,000 per day, are especially vulnerable to eye disease as the risk of diseases like glaucoma or macular degeneration increases dramatically as one enters their sixties.

Vision loss is a growing public health epidemic in the United States, with diseases like macular degeneration and glaucoma affecting millions of Americans and causing reduced vision and blindness. According to scientific studies, macular degeneration affects 11 million people in the U.S. and glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness among Hispanic and African Americans.

In many cases, people are unaware they have a vision problem until irreversible damage has occurred. For example, an estimated half of the three million Americans with glaucoma don’t even know they have the disease.

The television and radio spots, available in English and Spanish, urge viewers to get their eyes checked, and to visit BrightFocus.org to learn more about vision disease including a new resource, “The Top Five Questions to Ask Your Eye Doctor.”