VisionSpring honored with two innovation awards in lead-up to World Sight Day
NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading consulting firm Frost & Sullivan and India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare both honored VisionSpring for innovations in increasing access to affordable eyeglasses among base of the pyramid consumers.
Emerging Market Innovation Awardee: On Wednesday, September 16th, Frost & Sullivan honored VisionSpring at the 2015 Growth, Innovation, and Leadership Awards gala held in Santa Clara, CA. VisionSpring was recognized for Emerging Market Innovation for best practices in eye care delivery. Frost & Sullivan highlighted that "the company's cost-effective manufacturing process, approach of cross-subsidizing prices, and unique distribution models have significantly transformed the state of eye care in emerging markets."
"VisionSpring is honored to be recognized as an emerging market innovator and a social enterprise predicted to encourage significant growth in our sector," said VisionSpring president, Ella Gudwin who accepted the award on behalf of the organization's employees and partners around the world.
"Out of the Box Challenge" Winner: On July 4, 2015, India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare named Dr. Salima Bhatia, Senior Consultant for Policy & Planning for the National Health Mission, as the winner of the "Out of Box Challenge" at the National Summit on Good and Replicable Practices and Innovations in Public Healthcare Systems. Dr. Bhatia proposed VisionSpring's operational model as a scalable method for bringing eyeglasses to millions of people across rural India.
VisionSpring's proposed strategy of training community health workers to dispense eyeglasses in villages with the use of near vision charts won top prize for its "creativity, ingenuity, relevance, feasibility and potential for impact." Dr. Salima Bhatia received the award from the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mr. J. P. Nadda.
This World Sight Day – October 8 – VisionSpring joins in the global call for Eye Care for All!
"The market has failed low-income consumers," said Gudwin. "Eyeglasses are an 800-year-old technology. Everybody should have access to affordable eyeglasses and eye care, everywhere. This can be made possible by integrating eye health at every level of the health system; and making eyeglasses widely available outside of traditional health settings – where people work, learn, and pray."
Restoration of sight and blindness prevention strategies are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care. They are also a great investment in household earning potential.
"See well. Do well. That is our motto," said VisionSpring founder, Jordan Kassalow, O.D., M.P.H. "Our customers earn less than $4 a day. For them, a pair of eyeglasses has the potential to increase productivity 35% and income by $108 per year. That's a great return on investment."
For more information, visit VisionSpring.org.
ABOUT VISIONSPRING
Founded in 2001 by U.S. optometrist Jordan Kassalow, VisionSpring's mission is to ensure affordable access to eyewear, everywhere. VisionSpring achieves its mission by delivering high-quality, culturally appropriate optical goods and services to the base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) consumer. Our work has enabled over 2.6 million BoP consumers to gain access to affordable eyeglasses over the last 14 years. VisionSpring has been recognized by the Skoll Foundation, the Aspen Institute, the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, and the World Bank. In 2014, VisionSpring received, in partnership with Warby Parker, the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award.
SOURCE VisionSpring
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