WHO partners with OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation
image for illustrative purpose
Hyderabad: The World Health Organization (WHO) and the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation have announced a strategic partnership to scale up vision care services in India’s aspirational blocks, supporting WHO’s global SPECS 2030 goal of increasing effective refractive error coverage by 40% by 2030.
The collaboration aims to document, adapt, and scale the success of Karnataka’s ASHA Kirana program, an integrated primary eye health initiative that has become a model for community-based care. Developed by the Government of Karnataka with technical support from the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, the ASHA Kirana model embeds eye health services within primary healthcare systems, ensuring last-mile coverage even in remote and underserved areas.
As the program’s technical partner, the Foundation designed and implemented the door-to-door screening model, trained ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers in basic vision care, ensured the quality and affordability of spectacles, and helped establish vision centers within government hospitals.
