Take the OneSight challenge with EyeMed to celebrate World Sight Day

On October 12, World Sight Day, the world pauses for a moment to pay attention to the global problem of blindness and vision impairment. Not only do more than 2.5 billion people globally need vision correction today[1], but the vision challenge is increasing.

The need is growing as myopia rates among the young is increasing rapidly – reaching 70%, and more, in countries like China and Korea (myopia is when you can see up close, but not in the distance.) It’s also starting sooner with presbyopia among a growing aging population (presbyopia is when your eyes gradually lose the ability to see things clearly up close--a normal part of aging). These trends are happening at a time when good eyesight is becoming more and more essential — economically and socially — as we transition into a digital and knowledge-based age.

A large and growing need throughout the world

Of the 2.5 billion that need vision correction, roughly half live in the developed world[2] and companies like EyeMed are making it possible for these people to access affordable vision care and eyeglasses. We’re making good progress here in the U.S. to meet the vision need, but there’s still a lot to do, whether they’re school children from low-income families, Native Americans in reservations, or elderly people experiencing setbacks due to disasters such as hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

The other half needing help with their vision live in geographies that are too poor and undeveloped to address the vision challenge on their own. With OneSight, the nonprofit that leads the global movement to help the world see, I have been personally involved in the design and implementation of sustainable vision centers in countries like Rwanda, the Gambia, Zambia, Liberia, and Bangladesh, and remote regions in India and China.

These vision centers, most of them located in hospitals, have made it possible for entire communities and countries, and almost 8 million people helped by OneSight to date, to gain access to needed eye exams and affordable glasses.

Will you join me as part of a tested, sustainable solution?

This is a very personal cause for me. I’ve been wearing glasses all my life, and would not have been able to achieve what I did without the simple, but life-changing eyeglasses I received a as child. Helping people see life to the fullest has been, and is, my mission in life, whether it’s as president of EyeMed, the fastest growing vision benefits company in America, or as chairman of OneSight.

Here is a cause that is ever more important--has global scale and need--and has a tested, sustainable solution. I personally invite you to join EyeMed’s fundraising team, “Team See Life to the Fullest” to raise money now through World Sight Day (October 12). Our team is part of OneSight’s World Sight Day fundraising and fitness challenge called Ready Set See. Our team’s objective is to raise $30,000 toward building one of the vision centers in Rwanda.

EyeMed had planned to match the money raised by "Team See Life to the Fullest" dollar for dollar, but we're providing emergency relief to victims of hurricanes Harvey and Irma instead--another very important cause close to home.

Here’s how to help

To join us, visit OneSight.org. If you need some inspiration, watch this 30-second video on Ready Set See.

I will – we will – not stop until the world can see!

[1]Boston Consulting Group
[2] Deloitte and OneSight, Bringing the vision care crisis into focus, https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/operations/articles/global-vision-care-crisis.html

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