Essilor Pledges Eyeglass Lenses to Needy in the Commonwealth

Tuesday, April 17 2018 | 00 h 00 min | News

This commitment will leave a legacy of improved vision care infrastructure and in addition, provide 200 million people living below the poverty line with free ophthalmic lenses.

Essilor’s commitment will be made in partnership through the $1bn Vision Catalyst Fund. The Fund is a new initiative under development by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, civil society and public-private stakeholders, to provide sustainable solutions for eye health to entire populations in Commonwealth countries and around the world.

Chief Executive and Chairman of Essilor International, Hubert Sagnieres, commented: “A simple pair of glasses has the power to change a person’s life and create positive ripple effects on the social and economic development of their community. Much like the ongoing fight to ensure children everywhere in the world are immunized against infectious diseases, civil society and public-private stakeholders must work together to immunize everyone against the negative impact of poor vision by making vision care universally available. We welcome the opportunity to share our unique knowledge with our partners in the Vision Catalyst Fund, and to provide ophthalmic lenses to 200 million people in the Commonwealth living below the poverty line. We are committing to do this by 2030, the year the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals come to end. These efforts represent a huge step forward for Essilor on our journey to eradicate uncorrected poor vision by 2050 and to transform the lives of hundreds of millions of people.”

Dr. Astrid Bonfield CBE, Chief Executive of The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust commented: “We are delighted that Essilor is supporting the Vision Catalyst Fund by committing to both provide 200 million people living below the poverty line with ophthalmic lenses and to continue to build capacity of and access to eye care providers. We are at an historic moment where, thanks to the efforts of a diverse but united community, we have the potential to bring vision to everyone, everywhere within just one generation. Essilor’s visionary commitment is set to be truly transformational and takes us a step forward towards realising our goal of quality eye care being a part of everyday life for everyone.”

Read the complete press release HERE.