(Charenton-le-Pont, France) – This World Sight Day, October 12, Essilor launches #PutVisionFirst as it continues on its mission to improve lives everywhere by improving sight. With this global campaign, the company aims to create awareness about the importance of good vision and encourage everyone to visit an eye care professional for regular eye examinations.

Today 2.5 billion people, one third of the world’s population, can’t see clearly compromising their ability to learn, work and be safe. In addition, it is estimated 5 billion people – which will be half the world’s population – will suffer from myopia by 2050. Yet regular comprehensive eye exams, performed by eye care professionals, are often overlooked as a basic health check up. This World Sight Day, Essilor is setting out to change that by raising awareness of the real-life impact of poor vision and encouraging people to prioritize their eye health through the campaign “#PutVisionFirst”.

#PutVisionFirst seeks to draw particular attention to the role of good vision in the classroom, at work and on the road. The campaign will drive people to a dedicated website (www.putvisionfirst.com ), available in nine languages, where they will be invited to take the first step to checking their vision through online vision screening. If a person is detected to have a potential vision problem and commits to following up with a comprehensive eye exam from an eye care professional, – which is the only relevant path to ensure ocular health, Essilor will donate $1 on his/her behalf to Our Children’s Vision and Essilor Vision Foundation.*

The campaign is the latest in a series of Essilor initiatives to promote good vision for critical groups such as children and road users and is being endorsed by global partners who share Essilor’s commitment to raising awareness on the importance of healthy vision. These partners include the World Council of Optometry, the Our Children’s Vision coalition and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).

In September of this year, Essilor and the FIA announced a three-year global partnership on road safety. Following the adoption of the new Golden Rule “Check your Vision” in May 2017, Essilor and the FIA agreed to promote good vision through wide reaching awareness campaigns.

Click HERE for the full press release.