A partnership between the Nissan Foundation and the Instituto Ver e Viver (IVV), Essilor’s social business in Brazil, is driving a new vision health program – ‘How do you see the world?’. This program aims to help over 17,000 people who otherwise could not have afforded eyeglasses get access to vision correction.
Since May 2015 Nissan Foundation and IVV have run campaigns in public schools and through mobile clinics across Rio and Sao Paulo to provide eye exams and corrective glasses, with as many as 2500 individuals screened during the week of World Sight Day in October.
Impaired vision in Brazil creates a huge quality-of-life gap for those unable to see well enough to learn, work or do simple everyday activities like get on the right bus. Some 30% of children and young people in Brazil have vision problems that impact school performance. The ‘How do you see the world?’ program has the ambition to help change lives by transforming young people’s education opportunities and boosting community development through better eye health.