Page 93 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition May-June 2023
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1,000,000 EYES TESTED UNDER THE

          ALOKA VISION PROGRAM






















             With the Aloka Vision Program,  ZEISS            as customers. People deserve respect, quality,
          and partners are providing primary eye care to      affordability of services and products and, in
          patients in underserved regions throughout          our case, satisfaction with vision care and their
          India. It has now reached a milestone of one        eyeglasses. This approach alongside frequent
          million patients benefiting from the program        customer surveys is essential both for continuous
          and is expanding in Asia. It is time to share some   improvement as well as to meet the expectations
          insights into the program and to thank those        of patients, irrespective of their economic status.
          who make this progress possible: our partners!         Another expression of respect for patients is
          As a social business, Aloka has been operational    quality of service and products. Any compromise
          in India since April 2015, with the team based      in quality is followed by lower acceptance and
          in Bengaluru. It is supported by the Optometry      compliance with spectacle wear or referral for
          Council of India, optometry colleges, Lions Club    medical treatment. The consequences of poor
          volunteers, ophthalmologists, health workers,       quality would also affect the efficiency and
          and our partners: NGOs committed to promoting       effectiveness of the entire program.
          clear vision for all. The entire operation is working
          as a partnership network for NGOs, hospitals,          Partnerships are key. Research shows that
          and institutions. Aloka is part of ZEISS’ social    a significant portion of a program’s effort is
          engagement that includes a commitment to            spent on awareness, mobilisation, and logistics
          eye care and public health.                         in underserved areas. Joining forces with
                                                              organisations that are strong in these areas and
             Affordable eyeglasses are easy to make. They     with eye care experts on board multiplies the
          are also easy to fit – that is standard practice for any   impact dramatically.  The simple reason for this is
          optical store. The reason for the lack of service is an   that everyone brings their best to the table.
          incredible shortage of opticians and optometrists
          in many regions of our world. Poor vision affects      Finally, an important point to note is that
          people in rural areas because their options for     sustainability matters. Clear, healthy vision must
          finding eye care are very limited and expensive,    last a lifetime. So should eye care. Each program
          considering travel costs, lost income for travel days,   should provide frequent and reliable services
          and the challenge of finding the right service.     in the selected region. One-time activities are
          Bringing quality eye care to underserved regions at   disappointing to people, and not beneficial to
          affordable cost is a solvable challenge. We believe   public health. They are usually a waste of resources
          it is better, cheaper and more effective to bring the   as the public’s acceptance is then low.
          service to the people. (Of course, this is different for
          medical treatments such as cataract surgery.)                               Author: Joachim Kuss, Head of
                                                                  Communications, ZEISS Consumer Segments, Germany.
             Think of patients not as beneficiaries, but                            Co-Author: Premjeeth Moodbidri


     FEATURE                                                                 THE INDIAN OPTICIAN | MAY-JUNE 2023  | 89
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