Throughout 2009 Eye Health has been creeping up the media agenda. Effective public relations is propelling this often forgotten medical condition to make us all sit up and think.
June 2010 will see the inaugural National Eye Health Week which will roll out a national health PR campaign by all optical bodies, charities and companies to raise the profile of eye health among the public.
Primarily the campaign is to highlight the need for regular sight tests but the hope is the campaign will go beyond to provide a much greater awareness of eye conditions.
Psychologists suggest that between 70-90% of our sensory intake about our surroundings comes from our eye and all too often we fail to recognise the importance of having healthy eyes until its too late.
Specsavers are just one of the optical authorities to report that someone could lose as much as 40% of their sight before even realising there was a problem.
But why arent we all rushing down to the opticians and using our free eye tests from employers? Is it laziness or is it ineffective work by health PR agents up and down the country?
Last week shadow health minister Andrew RT Davies publically argued for better eye screening, a good move for effective public relations and his comments were picked up throughout the Welsh and English press.
The Wales News supported Davies stating that in 2007 only 22% of under-16s had had an eye examination, while 2005 research showed that only 7% of parents of children under five take their child for eye tests.
Health PR consultants now have to take the lead in promoting media relations on behalf of ophthalmologic specialists thinking beyond the line that carrots let you see in the dark.
Members of the public and UK companies need to wake up to the fact that eye health should be at the forefront of the agenda and none of us should be left feeling we should have gone to Specsavers!
Acai Berry- The Precious Endowment for a Healthy Life!!! - Voltaire, the famous French humanist and rationalist quoted it beautifully; “Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of which they know less in human beings .. (301 Views)
