'School Eye Health Programme' to provide free vision care

Bengaluru: The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation announced the commencement of the 'School Eye Health Program' in partnership with the Government of Karnataka, Department of Health and Family Welfare, and Department of Public Instructions in the Niti Aayog aspirational districts of Raichur and Yadgir.

Through this programme, partners will work together to eliminate uncorrected refractive errors in 4.5 lakh school children by training school teachers on how to provide basic visual tests and refer children with vision needs on to government optometrists for more extensive testing. For children identified to have uncorrected refractive errors, prescription glasses will be provided free of charge by the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation.

80 per cent of all vision issues can be solved by solutions that exist today, including solutions to arrest the progression of the growing cases of myopia, especially among school-going children.

This is why school teachers will also have extensive access to eye health tools, including Snellen Charts, measuring rope and booklets on eye health.

Posters to drive awareness and reinforce the importance of eye health will be displayed at schools to keep eye health front-of-mind for teachers and students alike.

Speaking at the occasion, Head of EssilorLuxottica Mission and President of OneSight Essilor Luxottica Foundation, Anurag Hans said, "Good vision has the power to unleash our full potential.

This is especially critical among school-going children, who have shown significant improvement in learning capabilities, attention spans and confidence when provided with a pair of glasses that corrected their poor vision. In most cases, there is no reason for a child to be deprived of the opportunity to learn due to poor vision. We are happy to support the Government of Karnataka in its goal to be an 'Avoidable Blindness Free State' by empowering teachers with the know-how to conduct basic eye tests and providing students with glasses, completely free of charge."

"Good vision is a basic human right, more so for children which has direct impact on their learning capabilities and life outcomes. Partnership with philanthropic organisations like the OneSight Essilor Luxottica Foundation will be of utility in the sustained efforts of the Government of Karnataka in providing quality eye care services for the children," said Dr. Vishal R, Commissioner for Public Instruction, Government of Karnataka.