New Delhi, 13th Oct 2016: On World Sight Day, Essilor, the world leader in ophthalmic lenses, has launched a major international campaign to educate people about the need to be vigilant about visual health, and implore them to have their eyes checked. The ‘Love to See Change’ campaign aims to collect as many as 1 lakh pledges across India from people vowing to undergo a visual examination immediately.
Good eyesight is essential to live well, learn, work, and fully interact with the world around us. Yet poor vision is the world’s most widespread disability. It is estimated that as many as 2.5 billion people globally do not have the vision correction they need. Many people don’t even know they can’t see clearly until they’ve had a comprehensive eye exam.
With as many as 550 million Indians living with uncorrected vision, the country suffers major health and economic consequences of this seemingly minor concern. The estimated economic impact of uncorrected vision stands at a staggering Rs 200000 Crores in lost productivity annually in the Indian sub-continent alone, as per the Vision Impact Institute*.
The good news is that 80% of visual impairment can be avoided or corrected. World Sight Day is an important occasion to raise awareness of the importance of vision care.
“Visual Health is the most neglected aspect among consumers in India. Almost half of India lives with uncorrected vision when all you need is a pair of spectacles to see clearly. It is also estimated that 70% of the reasons for uncorrected refractive errors are non-financial such as lack of awareness, avoidance and lack of priority. We want to bring focus to eye care and how vision correction can lead to change in every person’s life. As part of the ‘Love to See Change’ campaign we are inviting people to take a pledge to have their eyes examined and take steps to correct their vision,” said Mr. Shiv Kumar J, CEO, Essilor India.
If the campaign manages to collect 1 lakh pledges, Essilor will donate USD 1 on behalf of each person who pledges to support a healthy vision program for those in need. All you need to do is visit www.lovetoseechange which is the official vehicle of this campaign and ‘take the pledge’.
“It is not just visual comfort which is compromised due to uncorrected vision, an individual’s productivity also takes a beating. 1 in 4 children cannot see the black board clearly due to uncorrected vision. If a driver has uncorrected vision, he is a hazard to his own and his passengers’ lives. Most of the time, having your vision corrected is as simple as walking to an optometrist, having your presbiopia checked and taking a pair of corrective spectacles. Yet millions of people have never had their eyes examined. Lack of awareness and absence of easy access to corrective measures are crucial factors responsible for this. As a world leader, Essilor considers it a responsibility to take vision correction to the last man,” said Mr. Ramachandran P Group COO Essilor India.
In India not many people consider it important to get their eyes tested. Apart from the need to regularly check your refractive index, this campaign also wants to emphasize the importance of annual comprehensive eye check-ups, much like the regular body health check-ups which help in early detection of eye related issues like Glaucoma, Cataract and AMD (age related macular degeneration).
Essilor vision foundation is also organizing a Walkathon on October 14th in Bangalore in collaboration with the IVI (India Vision institute). Essilor and IVI employees will join other city residents to walk for Eye Health!
