American NGO to distribute 1 million low-cost glasses a year

Presbyopia, or inability to focus on close objects, is seldom taken seriously. And inability to afford glasses can take a toll on your routine chores.

New York-based VisionSpring hopes to change this.

The not-for-profit organisation, founded by Jordan Kassalow in 2001, distributes low-cost spectacles to low-income groups who suffer from presbyopia, mostly in villages, in India, Bangladesh, El Salvador and South Africa.

India accounts for half the 6,00,000 pairs of glasses VisionSpring has sold so far. VisionSpring began its India operations in 2005.
Maruti Ram, vice president, India, sales & innovation, said it looks to sell 1,00,000 pairs in 2011. “In 2013, we plan to sell a million glasses,” he added.
VisionSpring gives out these glasses for Rs100 to Rs200 a pair.

According to Ram, a pair of glasses will cost at least `1,000 for a presbyope from a remote village in India. “This includes a visit to the doctor, who is maybe 50km away, and the opportunity cost of lost daily wages,” he said.

Presbyopia is often confused with hyperopia or farsightedness. Though both have a similar effect on a person’s vision, only some have hyperopia. Presbyopia, since it’s age-related, is said to affect everyone at some point. It becomes evident in people once they cross 35-40 years of age.

VisionSpring has what it calls ‘vision entrepreneurs’ (VEs) who serve as a key distribution channel. Anyone with a high school qualification and Rs5,000 to spare can become a VE. “We train them for four days and give them 40-60 pairs of glasses.

They then go to villages, test people for presbyopia and give them the glasses,” Ram said. VEs are not equipped to treat eye problems other than presbyopia. Hence, they refer the villagers to ophthalmologists and optometrists for any other eyesight problems.

Y Moshe, a 31-year old graduate from Prakasham district of Andhra Pradesh, has been a VE since 2005. Initially, he joined VisionSpring for livelihood. But, now he has started enjoying the work of providing vision to the poor.

For the last six years, Moshe has been organising free eye camps in villages assigned to him. “We first approach the village sarpanch. Then we promote the eye campaign the village,” he adds.

Moshe gets paid based on the camps he conducts and the number of glasses he sells. “I conduct about five camps a month and sell 20-30 glasses a month. Now, I have two assistant VEs reporting to me. I also get paid partly for the work they do,” Moshe says. He earns Rs7,000 a month.

For P Samson of Kambalapur village in Prakasham, the eye camp organised by Moshe in 2009 was the first and most interesting experience. Samson was diagnosed with presbyopia problem in 2009 and bought a pair of glasses from Moshe in 2009. “I have been using those glasses for the last three years and only in the last week, I went for a new set of glasses. For us in villages, a VE is more native than a doctor in a town,” Samson says.

VisionSpring currently has 300 VEs and works with like-minded bodies.

VisionSpring operates independently in villages primarily in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and near New Delhi. It works with the government and other NGOs in Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.

According to a study by healthcare organisation AMD Alliance International, the global cost of vision loss was nearly $3 trillion dollars in 2010 for the 73.3 crore people living with low vision and blindness worldwide.