Eyecare Plus to Assist Optometry Giving Sight with New Project in India
The project, which is being implemented by the LV Prasad Eye Institute, aims to establish an ophthalmic lens glazing unit in a secondary eye care centre in the state of Andra Pradesh. The unit will ensure that rural people can access lenses that can be mounted into frames in half the time and more cheaply than before.
Servicing the secondary centre and ten vision centres that function under it, the unit is part of a comprehensive program that provides access to sustainable vision care for millions of people in the region.
Eyecare Plus Chairman Tony Hanks said that the initiative would help build a stronger bond between the Company and its charity of choice.
“We have always believed that as optometrists it is our responsibility to help eliminate refractive error blindness and vision impairment through the good work of Optometry Giving Sight,” said Tony.
“Now, as well as providing ongoing financial support, Eyecare Plus employees will have the opportunity to visit the unit and to provide support and mentoring to local eye care practitioners.”
In India an estimated 456 million people currently require vision correction in the form of spectacles, contact lenses or refractive surgery to be able to see and to learn, work and function in their daily lives.
A further 133 million people, including 11 million children, are blind or vision impaired from being uncorrected or under-corrected due to lack of access to eye exams and glasses.
The LV Prasad Eye Institute is a world-class, not-for-profit eye hospital, research and training centre, and was established in Hyderabad in 1987. It aims to provide quality eye care to those most in need, irrespective of their ability to pay.
The ophthalmic lens glazing unit is just one of the 18 projects in 16 countries that are being funded by Optometry Giving Sight, thanks in part to donations from Australian optometrists.
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