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Essilor establishes program to eliminate uncorrected refractive error
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Essilor announced that it has created the Vision For Life program, a global strategic giving program dedicated to eliminating uncorrected refractive error.
The company said it has committed 30 million euros to support this initiative, “a pioneering step in the company’s mission to improve lives by improving sight.”
Essilor said in a press release that the Vision Impact Institute reports that the social and economic repercussions of visual impairment are worth as much as $272 billion in lost global productivity per year.
The company explained in the release: “Vision For Life is a strategic giving program that aims to accelerate initiatives targeting poor vision through awareness-raising, capacity-building and the creation of basic vision care infrastructure. The sustainable development of local vision care will create jobs, help alleviate poverty and bring socioeconomic development to individuals and the communities in which they live.”
Vision For Life will fund various types of type of public interest projects, Essilor stated, ranging from community vision care actions in cooperation with nonprofit organizations, including local Essilor foundations, to the establishment of vision centers and skills development in areas without access to primary eye care. It will also support public awareness campaigns and advocacy.
The Vision For Life program will be administered by two nonprofit entities, the Essilor Social Impact Fund, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation in the U.S., and the Essilor Social Impact fonds de dotation (endowment fund) in France, according to the release. A governing board for each entity will decide the allocation of funding for projects in accordance with their respective investment criteria.
The Essilor Vision Foundation, created in 2008, will continue to deploy the geographic development of its philanthropic programs, the company stated. The Vision Impact Institute, created in 2013, aims to raise awareness of healthy vision, including the socioeconomic impact of uncorrected refractive error and quality of life benefits of visual correction.