Over 9,000 Mizoram children benefit from screening campaign

India Vision Institute, Essilor lead partnership in vision screening & free spectacles  

Vanlal Vawna and Rosy Khuma at IVI, Aijal Club in Aizawl at the ceremony where free spectacles were distributed to the Mizoram children

A collaborative vision screening and spectacles campaign of India Vision Institute (IVI) and Essilor Vision Foundation (EVF) has benefited over 9,000 children in remote corners of Mizoram.

The screening program has worked to provide vision coverage to underprivileged children in Serchhip and Lunglei districts.  Some 450 children found to have refractive errors in the districts are being provided free spectacles.

At a ceremony organised by IVI at Aijal Club in Aizawl, free spectacles were distributed to 30 children from Serchhip district, who were among those screened earlier by IVI in Serchhip and Lunglei.   The remaining children will be provided free spectacles at their respective schools in Serchhip and Lunglei on February 6 and 8.

Those present at the spectacles distribution included India’s Ambassador-designate to Azerbaijan and former Consul General in Sydney, B Vanlalvawna, Head of Essilor Vision Foundation, Mahesh K V, and Samuel Zothantluanga, Program Coordinator, Zoram Entu Pawl (ZEP), a not-for-profit charity in the social development sector and working in cooperation with IVI in the Mizoram campaign.

“We are happy to associate with IVI in the screenings and spectacles distribution campaign to children in remote areas of Mizoram. We are working with IVI elsewhere too as we continue the fight for Eradication of Poor Vision through provision of access to screenings and spectacles to the needy,” said Mahesh K.V.

“The work of vision screening and provision of free spectacles by IVI is noteworthy. I am particularly happy that IVI screenings have touched lives of children in remote parts of Mizoram,” Mr Vanlalvawna said.

In the next phase of work in the state, IVI will cover 15,000 more children.

IVI CEO Vinod Daniel announced plans for expansion of vision campaigns by IVI in the state. “Yesterday IVI launched a vision screening program for 4,500 children in Aizawl supported by Oil India Limited (OIL).”

“IVI will also vision screen another 10,000 children in the state, making a total additional coverage of around 15,000 in the coming months,” he noted.

“With these campaigns, IVI has set its footprints in Mizoram and the north-east. The screenings are organised in districts where it is most needed. A study conducted in the state had estimated the prevalence of refractive error among children at more than 10%,” Mr Daniel added.

“The Mizoram screenings are IVI’s first in north-east India under its Eye See I Learn program and have come at a most opportune time. I cannot thank IVI enough for their role in bringing vision screening in such a big way to our state,” said ZEP’s Director, Fr Lawrence Kennedy.

Till date, IVI has conducted 422 vision screening programs in and around Chennai and other cities in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Pondicherry, West Bengal, New Delhi, Haryana and Mizoram. Over 1, 76, 376 individuals from underprivileged communities (including over 1, 28, 549 children) have been screened and free spectacles distributed to 22, 813 individuals (including 11, 984 children).

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