By Our Special Correspondent
They are students of corporation schools in Chennai
On World Sight Day, October 13, India Vision Institute (IVI) and OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation have announced a major program to provide vision care and spectacles to 50,000 urban disadvantaged children in Chennai.
The India Vision Institute – OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation School Eye Health Program will raise awareness on good vision and address the growing problem of myopia and other vision issues among children and will be undertaken in the corporation schools of Chennai.
Chennai has 150,000 school children studying in corporation schools and IVI’s endeavor will be to cover all of them by December 2023.
The program was launched today in the presence of Ms R Priya, Mayor, Greater Chennai Corporation; Ms Lise Talbot Barre, Consul General of France for Pondicherry and Chennai; Dr Ezhilan Naganathan, MLA; Narasimhan Narayanan, Country Head, EssilorLuxottica Group, South Asia; Raghavan N S, Country Manager, Essilor, South Asia; Vinod Daniel, CEO, India Vision Institute; M Magesh Kumaar, Deputy Mayor; N Chitrarasu, Councillor & Chairman, Standing Committee (Works), Chennai Corporation; D Viswanathan, Councillor & Chairman, Standing Committee (Education); S Madana Mohan, Chairman, Zone 9 (Ward Committee), and others.
Spectacles were provided to children with uncorrected refractive error at the Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School, Nungambakkam in Chennai.
An initiative under IVI’s Eye See & I Learn, the vision screening program is supported by OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation. As part of this initiative, the vision screenings will be conducted in around 150 corporation, government and tribal schools across 15 zones of Chennai Corporation. Children requiring spectacles will be provided with a pair, enabling them to see better, do well in school, and improve their future prospects.
IVI’s CEO Vinod Daniel said “The program comes at a time when myopia is becoming an acute problem for school children. It also forms part of our World Sight Day ‘IAPB Love Your Eyes’ campaign pledge.”
“In addition to providing the best possible vision to children, the program will also aim to create awareness on eye care and the importance of vision health among parents, teachers and children,” Mr. Daniel added.
“We know seeing well improves everything in life, from an individual’s health, education and work opportunities to the sustainable development of local communities and economies. As the largest vision care foundation, we are taking the vision care crisis head-on, committed to using all our resources to ensure every human sees a bright future, starting with the world’s youngest citizens,” said Anurag Hans, Head of EssilorLuxottica Mission & Head of OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation. “This is why we’re excited to launch ‘The Right to See,’ which will help those throughout the world who are most in need of access to vision, to see more and be more.”
Narasimhan Narayanan, Country Head, EssilorLuxottica South Asia said, “80% of a child’s learning is through the eyes, so poor vision has a serious impact on a child’s ability to progress at school and in life. Programs like this not only provide much-needed access to vision screening programs and the right eye care for children in need but also help increase awareness among parents of the importance of good vision which hopefully encourages them and their families to participate in regular eye check-ups.”
About India Vision Institute
IVI is an Indian not-for-profit NGO with the vision to provide access to primary eye care for the underprivileged and a pair of corrective glasses to every Indian in need of one. Our outreach and advocacy activities also include awareness generation, engaging communities, schools, partner institutions and others through talks, education, skill enhancement, and leadership development. Since 2012, IVI has helped change lives in 22 states of India. Through providing better vision and a pair of free corrective glasses, our Eye See and I Learn and Eye See and I Work programs help, respectively, school children do well in studies and adults in being more productive, ensuring their safe and secure livelihood. Vision and Road Safety is another priority for IVI and involves working with corporates/organizations on screenings and provision of free spectacles for commercial vehicle drivers. Beneficiaries have included women, children, transgender communities, workers, fisherfolk and weavers.
About OneSightEssilorLuxottica Foundation
The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation is a registered charitable organization reflecting the commitment of EssilorLuxottica to eliminating uncorrected poor vision in a generation. It was rebranded in 2022 to bring together EssilorLuxottica’s philanthropic, advocacy actions and investments including: Vision for Life, Essilor Vision Foundations in North America, India, Southeast Asia and China, Fondazione Salmoiraghi & Viganò in Italy as well as the Company’s long term global partners OneSight and the Vision Impact Institute. Headquartered in Paris, the Foundation has created sustainable access to vision care to millions of people in underserved communities around the world.
https:// onesight. essilorluxottica. com/
Contact e-mail: [email protected]
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