CooperVision, Optometry Giving Sight and India Vision Institute (IVI) today announced a joint initiative to screen over 22,000 children across India, including Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune and Delhi, and provide free spectacles as needed.

The programme, launched at the Government Primary School, Gopanpally Tanda in Rangareddy district, Telangana will see 2,000 screenings in Hyderabad. So far, 351 children from poor and underprivileged backgrounds have been screened.

These children are drawn from Mahima Ministries Homes, SOS Children's Village and the Government Primary School. About 26 free spectacles were distributed to those found with refractive errors at an event on Sunday.

Michael Wilkinson, General Manager, Cooper Vision, a leading manufacturer of soft contact lenses, said, “In keeping with the mission of correcting people’s vision, we are glad that our global One Bright Vision Child Health Program can play a role in India and we are excited to partner with IVI in this initiative. As the first wave of this initiative in 2016, over 34,000 underprivileged children were screened and over 2,900 free spectacles were provided.''

The event was organised on the eve of the 3-day World Congress of Optometry which began here today. It assumes significance as the Congress, the largest gathering of its kind, will see professionals discuss and deliberate on policy and practical issues in blindness prevention, including addressing the problems of shortfall in optometrists and their training, said Vinod Daniel, CEO of IVI.

Over 1,500 optometrists, ophthalmologists, public health professionals and others from all corners of the world are participating in the World Congress .

“IVI has organised screening programmes across several states and cities of India. Previous launches with CooperVision participation have been undertaken in Chennai, March 2016, and in Delhi in April 2017. Yet another screening will be organised in Mumbai in October with other cities following subsequently,” Daniel added.

somasekhar.m@thehindu.co.in