Humanitarian associations: actors in the optical sector commit themselves

According to the WHO, more than 90% of people with visual impairment live in developing countries, where optical equipment is difficult to access or inaccessible. To mitigate this, the actors in the optical sector are committed!

Focus on humanitarian associations that change lives:

• NGOs such as Lunettes Sans Frontière or Opticiens Lunetiers Sans Frontières collect mounts and glasses to redistribute them in clinics and dispensaries around the world. They make it benefit the poorest visually impaired in their country.
• For 40 years, the Medico Lions Club of France has also collected nearly 100,000 pairs of glasses each year, recycling them and shipping them around the world.

• In connection with international humanitarian associations, the Krys Foundation proposes concrete actions: large-scale screening ; diagnoses made by ophthalmologists; collecting optical and solar glasses at its points of sale. Each year, the Foundation collects and redistributes nearly 160,000 pairs of glasses.
• Thanks to its foundation, Optic 2000 develops actions in Africa, such as the creation of an optical center at the Ouahigouya Hospital or the operation " spectacles pour les enfants d'Afrique " for screening children in Burkina Faso .
• " The Children's Desert ", a project carried by Afflelou in Morocco, allows opticians every year to go to the most remote parts of the country. They control the view of the population and also offers sun pairs and glasses Forty to promote reading .

• At the same time, many pharmacists make their customers aware of the value of solidarity . They recover unused optical equipment in addition to drugs in dedicated containers for recycling .
• " A bike for 2, glasses for all ": at their scale, two opticians have decided to change the world. Alexis Baratte, an optician in Lille, and his partner Emilie Dubus, have embarked on a humanitarian and sports project . The operation consists of collecting up to 1000 pairs of glasses and taking them from France to Cambodia. All by bike!

Citizen engagement first and foremost

These initiatives of any size would not be allowed without the collaboration of all actors in the optical sector, including customers . If visual deficiencies do not affect all countries uniformly, it is up to all of us to ensure that optical equipment is distributed equitably to the entire world population .

Action by action, it is these citizen commitments that will perhaps one day allow everyone to have access to adapted care!