Eye Care Event Hosted at Parliament Hill for National Eye Care Strategy

Monday, November 7 2022 | 13 h 42 min | News

OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation and EssilorLuxottica recently hosted an event with 14 other eye care-related organizations on Parliament Hill to meet with key policymakers to discuss upcoming optical legislation, known as Bill C-284, intended to enact a National Eye Care Strategy.

Rick Gadd, President of EssilorLuxottica Canada and Essilor Instruments North America, and Kris Kelm, Head of OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation for Canada, hosted a group of NGOs and professional associations from across the industry, who met with members of parliament and senators to share about the current eye care ecosystem in Canada and the needs of its population. The key elements of these discussions revolved around access to eye care, awareness building, pathologies, and also the growing public health issue that myopia progression is becoming. The discussions were in direct support of the efforts to create a  National Eye Care Strategy.

Representatives from NGOs Operation Eyesight Universal, CNIB, Fighting Blindness Canada, Canadian Council of the Blind, the optometry departments of the universities of Waterloo and Montreal, the University of Ottawa ophthalmology department, Humanware, tech companies Lightx Innovation and Diagnos, The Northwest Company, the Ontario Opticians Association, the Canadian Association of Optometry, and the Opticians Association of Canada were also in attendance.

Rick Gadd, President of EssilorLuxottica Canada and Essilor Instruments North America:

“As a world leader in vision care, it is EssilorLuxottica’s responsibility to play a leading role in the industry. With cutting-edge innovation and resources to help eyecare professionals provide the highest quality of care and impact the lives of adults and children, we are proud to offer optometrists a full range of tools and resources to better serve Canadians. We are grateful to MP Judy Sgro for introducing bill C-284 and giving us the opportunity to create this event that allowed a broad spectrum of stakeholders to meet with Parliament to discuss the optical industry, the important innovations created now by doctors and researchers, and the public need.”

Since 2019, the Foundation team and its partners have performed school vision care pilots across Canada. Through these pilot programs:

1. More than 26,000 underserved children were provided with vision screenings or eye exams across Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and British Columbia
2. 40% of children screened were identified as potentially needing vision correction
3. Of the children who were examined by an optometrist, more than 27% required prescription glasses
4. During a one-week clinic at Ahkwesahsne Mohawk School in Cornwall, Ontario, 148 children and seniors were examined by an optometrist
5. 100 of these patients required glasses, representing a need rate of 67.5%

Kris Kelm, Head of OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation for Canada:

“As the philanthropic arm of our corporation, OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation is committed to our mission to eradicate uncorrected poor vision in a generation. Sight does so much more than help us see clearly. It helps us perform better in school, connect more deeply with one another, and develop our full potential in life. We’re creating a world where a lack of access to vision care is no longer a barrier to human achievement and possibility. And we won’t stop until the world can see.”

The National Eye Care Strategy will “raise awareness of the impact of vision loss and blindness, improve eye health care and support, and fund innovative research to advance new therapies for vision loss.”