Essilor expands philanthropic actions

In April, Essilor set up Essilor Vision Foundation in Bangalore, India. The launch of this new charity organization is part of the Group's strategy of meeting the vision needs of everyone in the world and, in particular, the 2.5 billion people who need eyesight correction and currently cannot get it. The expansion of Essilor Vision Foundation in India is the first of a series of public charities that will be set up in different countries under the aegis of Essilor Vision Foundation during 2014.   A public charity for faster response to the vision needs of underdeveloped communities in India   It is estimated that about 550 million Indians suffer from uncorrected vision defects. This phenomenon has a strong social impact not only on individuals and their communities but also on the economy: it is estimated that every year the loss in productivity on the Indian1 sub-continent is 37 billion US dollars. In addition to its traditional actions, over the past ten years Essilor has introduced various pioneering inclusive business models for raising the population's awareness about the importance of good vision and for locally providing eyeglasses at affordable prices for low-income families and individuals. The launch of Essilor Vision Foundation will help to accelerate the Group's actions in favor of the 400 million people living below the international poverty line in this country2.   "The creation of Essilor Vision Foundation is a new milestone in our aim of offering good vision for everyone in India, where our subsidiaries and partners have been engaged in charity initiatives for several years", explained Jayanth Bhuvaraghan, Essilor Chief Corporate Mission Officer.   A global philanthropic network whose mission is to provide free prescription glasses for 4 million people by 2020   Over the past 25 years the Group has provided free vision treatment, about 600,000 free screenings for vision and the donation of glasses. Essilor Vision Foundation is a public charity that was founded in the USA in 2008 and has constantly increased its impact thanks to a series of strategic partnerships that play a key role in fundraising activities.   "We now want to capitalize on the experience acquired with Essilor Vision Foundation in the USA and the energy of our teams throughout the world to gradually spread the Essilor Vision Foundation in more and more countries in order to achieve our global objective by 2020, i.e. providing free vision correction for 4 million people throughout the world", Jayanth Bhuvaraghan continued.   Essilor Vision Foundation will soon be launched in Canada, China and Singapore. Other countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific are working on creating local organizations in 2014. A new Essilor Vision Foundation organization set up in Bangalore