Adlens® and its social commitment

With the "Buy One Give One" program the company guarantees access to eyesight correction in developing countries As the outcome of an extraordinary philanthropic initiative translated into an internationally important company, Adlens® has always demonstrated strong social commitment. This founding principle is reflected in its constant cooperation with the Vision For A Nation® foundation.   Adlens® founder James Chen, an entrepreneur and philanthropist from Hong Kong, set up Vision For A Nation® (VFAN) to make eyesight correction universally accessible with focus on one specific country at a time. The project began in Ruanda, where only 14 eye care professionals serve almost 11 million people. VFAN cooperates with the Ruanda Ministry of Health on teaching nurses basic optical services. This will give the entire population access to primary eyesight checks and make frames available to them. Thanks to VFAN, almost 389 nurses were trained in 11 districts out of 30 and about 2,038 eyesight checks were carried out. As a next step, VFAN aims to consolidate the new service and increase awareness about proper eyesight correction, with a view to completing the project in the entire territory of Ruanda by 2015.   Adlens® has also set up the Buy One Give One program to guarantee universal access to eyesight correction in developing countries. For every pair of prescription or sun glasses bought in the John Lennon™ or Hemisphere® collections, Adlens® will donate a pair to VFAN to support its humanitarian effort.   The donated glasses are delivered to Mombasa, Kenya, and from there they are transported to Ruanda. After reaching the medical device supply and distribution center at Kigali, the glasses are sent to pharmacies in various districts. Local health centers let the pharmacies know what they require, so that the donations are certain to go where the need is greatest. The success of variable focus lenses in Ruanda is demonstrated by a national government program now underway for training nurses and sector professionals in this technology.   James Chen commented: "There has never been any doubt that this technology would make the world a better place. But real innovation must go beyond this. I believe that long-lasting changes in developing countries can come about only by developing products that people want, products that are successful at a commercial level. The continual development of variable focus lenses has unlimited potential. I am convinced that we are only at the start of a journey that will completely change the concept of human eyesight all over the world".   VFAN needs glasses with variable focus lenses as well as reading glasses. Adlens® provides both types depending on the requirements of local communities and has sold hundreds of pairs of glasses that have led to an equal amount of donated glasses in the Buy One Give One program. This year VFAN has ordered over 7,000 pairs to be distributed throughout Ruanda. Considering that variable focus lenses reduce the laboratory time and cost of lens production, Fluid-Injection technology can really change the conventional conception of health care.