Colour Blindness Awareness Day 2020 Date, History and Significance: Here's Why the Day is Dedicated to Colour Vision Deficiency

Colour blindness is a condition in which people have difficulty differentiating between two colours in comparison. An inherited condition that is very prevalent even today, colour blindness has various myths still associated with it. In an effort to bust these myths and raise awareness about the issue, September 6 is commemorated as Colour Blindness Awareness Day. From helping people to identify the symptoms of colour blindness to helping those combating this condition, there are various reasons that make Colour Blindness Awareness Day important. As we prepare to observe Colour Blindness Awareness Day 2020, here's everything you need to know about this observance. Can You See All the Shades? This Simple Color Blindness Test Can Figure Out!

When is Colour Blindness Awareness Day 2020?

As already mentioned, Colour Blindness Awareness Day is celebrated on September 6 every year. This day also marks the birthday of John Dalton. John Dalton was a chemist, physicist and a meteorologist very well known for atomic theory introduction in chemistry. He is also the first scientist to study colour blindness and publish a paper on the same topic entitled Extraordinary Facts Relating to the Vision of Colours with Observations. He himself had the condition. Due to which, colour blindness is also known as Daltonism in some parts of the world.

Significance of Colour Blindness Awareness Day

Colour blindness is also known as colour vision deficiency or CVD and is said to be a prevalent condition. This condition is said to be affecting about 1 in 12 men and 1 out of 200 women. Colour Blindness Awareness Day aims to address and raise awareness about this condition every year. People are also striving to eradicate myths surrounding it and providing services to the people suffering from this condition. CVD or Colour Blindness is often misunderstood by many. People believe that those suffering from this condition cannot see the colours at all, but in fact, they mainly have issues differentiating among the shades. A normal person can identify one million different shades of colour, but someone with CVD or Colour blindness will only see 10000 different shades. This is caused because of the reduction in sensitivity of one or more light-sensitive cone cells in the eye.

Colour-blind people, therefore, cannot drive cars, since they cannot differentiate between signals. There are various other issues that they are subjected to. The constant bullying from some, when their condition is revealed is atop the list. We hope that this Colour Blindness Awareness Day helps you educate on the topic.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 06, 2020 08:26 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).