This year the WDD theme of diabetic eye disease (retinopathy) played a more prominent role in the publicity surrounding WDD events than has been the case for previous themes. Diabetes is the world's primary cause of damage to vision and blindness. One of the specific objectives of WDD 2002 was to warn of the threat of irreversible retinopathy posed by the condition. The theme was taken up in order to campaign for improved provision of sight checks as a relatively low-cost method of prevention.
World Diabetes Day, WDD, eyes