[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 136 (Thursday, October 11, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S10634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    VISION 2020 WORLD SIGHT DAY 2001

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, Vision 2020 World Sight Day 2001 is 
observed today, Thursday October 11, 2001, in cooperation with the 
World Health Organization, WHO, the 2020 Foundation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, 
Christian Blind Mission International, CBMI, and a partnership of 26 
international organizations concerned with world blindness working 
together to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020.
  Forty-five million people living in our world today are totally 
blind. Eighty percent of this blindness could be prevented or cured 
with simple cost-effective nutrition, medicines and medical care. A 
child in our world goes blind every minute, most often due to a simple 
lack of Vitamin A. More than half of these precious children will die 
within 2 years of losing their sight.
  The primary causes of blindness, malnutrition, disease, lack of 
medicines and medical care, are always linked to the grinding poverty 
so characteristic of developing nations around the globe. Millions of 
men, women and children needlessly live in a prison of darkness 24 
hours a day. They desperately need the help of privileged nations to be 
set free.
  The Vision 2020 program plans to eliminate most of the world's 
blindness by the year 2020. But with no intervention, the number of 
blind in this world will reach an estimated 100 million by the year 
2020.
  World Sight Day 2001 raises awareness that most blindness, associated 
misery, and several billion dollars in related costs can be prevented 
if we as a nation and a world intervene in time.
  I commend the 2020 Foundation, Christian Blind Mission International 
and the other members of the 2020 Task Force for helping bring the gift 
of sight to the less fortunate around the world.

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