Vision for a Nation Foundation (VFAN) is an international non-governmental organisation that supports health ministries to provide local eye care services. [1]
In its first nationwide initiative, it is providing everyone in Rwanda with local access to eye care and affordable glasses. [2]
The Foundation was established in 2011 by James Chen, a Hong Kong–based venture philanthropist who is also the founder of international eye-care initiative Clearly. [3] The foundation is based in the United Kingdom and operates in Rwanda. [4]
VFAN registered as a non-governmental organisation in Rwanda in 2011 and launched a national programme in partnership with Rwanda's Ministry of Health in 2012. [5]
The programme aims to build locally accessible eye care services across Rwanda through the country's network of local health centres. [6]
In 2015, VFAN launched an outreach campaign to bring eye care services to people across Rwanda. Teams of trained nurses will visit each of Rwanda’s 15,000 villages to provide eye treatment and affordable glasses. [7]
It has been funded by UBS Optimus Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the Chen Yet Sen Family Foundation. [8]
Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate based in Milan. As a vertically integrated company, Luxottica designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails its eyewear brands all through its own subsidiaries. The company, presently organized as a subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica which formed when the Italian conglomerate merged with the French optical firm Essilor, is the world's largest company in its industry, both prior to and after its merger with Essilor.
The Champalimaud Foundation is a private biomedical research foundation. It was created according to the will of the late entrepreneur António de Sommer Champalimaud, in 2004. The complete name of the foundation honors the mother and father of the founder and is Fundação Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud. It is located in Lisbon, Portugal.
Unite for Sight is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2000 by Jennifer Staple-Clark specializing in healthcare delivery to communities around the world. The organization invests human and financial resources in local eye clinics in Ghana, Honduras, and India to eliminate patient barriers to care. As of January 2017, Unite for Sight has assisted more than 2.4 million people worldwide and provided over 97,000 vision-restoring surgeries.
Rwanda faces a generalized epidemic, with an HIV prevalence rate of 3.1 percent among adults ages 15 to 49. The prevalence rate has remained relatively stable, with an overall decline since the late 1990s, partly due to improved HIV surveillance methodology. In general, HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and women are at higher risk of HIV infection than men. Young women ages 15 to 24 are twice as likely to be infected with HIV as young men in the same age group. Populations at higher risk of HIV infection include people in prostitution and men attending clinics for sexually transmitted infections.
Surgical Eye Expeditions International, or SEE International, is a nonprofit humanitarian organization based in Santa Barbara, California, that provides accessible vision care services to underserved communities internationally and in the United States. The organization was founded in 1974 by Dr. Harry S. Brown, and it connects over 700 volunteer ophthalmologists and other allied health professionals with host clinic sites around the world. These volunteer medical professionals travel to host clinic sites to participate in sight-restoring programs and educate local doctors to help create sustainable vision care systems in the areas. Its objective is to provide quality eye care and sight-restoring surgeries in communities that are overwhelmed with large populations of individuals who cannot afford, or do not have access to, this form of medical care. Since its establishment, SEE has screened over 4 million individuals and completed over 500,000 surgeries in over 85 countries.
New Eyes for the Needy is a non-profit organization started in 1932 as New Eyes and based in Short Hills, New Jersey, which provides people in the United States with eyeglasses and sends recycled eyeglasses to needy people overseas.
The Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation (CYSFF) is a Hong Kong-administered charitable institution established in 2003 by the Chen family, with a dual focus on childhood literacy and vision correction - two fields central to the educational development of people throughout their lives. CYSFF works closely with a variety of non-profit organizations to help them implement "innovative" and "cost effective" programs.
Vision Action is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, which provides optical aid and services to developing countries in Africa.
Sankurathri Foundation (SF) was established in 1989 by Dr. Chandra Sekhar Sankurathri in memory of his wife Manjari, son Kiran and daughter Sarada, who died in the bombing of Air India Flight 182 off the coast of Ireland on 23 June 1985.
Lifeline Energy is a non-profit social enterprise that provides technology solutions for off-grid learning. The organization designs, manufactures and distributes solar and wind-up media players and radios for classroom and group listening and was behind the first solar and wind-up radio for humanitarian use which launched in 2003. Since it began operations in 1999 more than 550,000 wind-up and solar powered radios and media players have been distributed, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Millions of listeners have been reached, as classrooms of up to 60 children or listening groups can use each radio or media player.
The Fred Hollows Foundation is a non-profit aid organisation based in Sydney, Australia, which was founded in 1992, by eye surgeon Fred Hollows. The foundation focuses on treating and preventing blindness and other vision problems in people and communities. It operates in Australia, South East Asia, East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
Sanduk Ruit is an ophthalmologist from Nepal who was involved to restore the sight of over 180,000 people across Africa and Asia using small-incision cataract surgery.
Agnes Binagwaho is a Rwandan Politician, pediatrician, co-founder and the former vice chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity (2017-2022). In 1996, she returned to Rwanda where she provided clinical care in the public sector as well as held many positions including the position of Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health of Rwanda from October 2008 until May 2011 and Minister of Health from May 2011 until July 2016. She has been a professor of global health delivery practice since 2016 and a professor of pediatrics since 2017 at the University of Global Health Equity. She has served the health sector in various high-level government positions. She resides in Kigali.
Thomson Reuters Foundation is a London-based charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, a Canadian news conglomerate. The Foundation is registered as a charity in the United States and United Kingdom and is headquartered in Canary Wharf, London.
The Organisation for the Prevention of Blindness is an international non-governmental organisation whose actions today focus exclusively on French-speaking countries in Africa. Their mission is to preserve and restore sight amongst some of the most under-privileged communities in the region. The OPC's principal actions concern blindness prevention, treatment and the elimination of blinding diseases, such as onchocerciasis, trachoma, glaucoma and cataracts as well as formal ophthalmological training.
The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP) was created in 1995 by Dr. Geoffrey Tabin and Dr. Sanduk Ruit with a goal of establishing a sustainable eye care infrastructure in the Himalaya. HCP empowers local doctors to provide ophthalmic care through skills-transfer and education. From its beginning, HCP responds to a pressing need for eye care in the Himalayan region. With programs in Nepal, Ethiopia, Ghana, Bhutan and India they have been able to restore sight to over 1.4 million people since 1995.
The Prison Radio Association (PRA) is a British prison-based charity that operates National Prison Radio, a radio station which broadcasts programmes made by and for inmates in over 100 prisons in the United Kingdom and is the world's first national radio station of its kind.
Clare Gilbert is a British ophthalmologist, professor and researcher who focuses on blindness in children. She is based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
Eye Care Foundation (ECF) is an international charity organisation active in over 20 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin-America.
The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) is a global alliance of eye health organisations working for the prevention of blindness and vision impairment. IAPB was established in 1975 to work as an umbrella body for global blindness prevention activities. This agency is a partner of World Health Organization.