Dialog Completes 25th Eye Clinic with Vision 2020 Initiative to Eradicate Preventable Blindness

 

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, announced the completion of a milestone 25th eye clinic, having covered 10 districts and screening 11,034 recipients in rural areas, along with the distribution of 8,617 spectacles to date. This is in line with the company’s pledge to support Vision 2020, a global initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) for the elimination of preventable blindness by 2020, spearheaded by the Ministry of Health.

Following its commitment to the initiative in 2015, Dialog invested towards the provision of eye care services for Sri Lankans from low-income communities, specifically those living in rural areas. Supported by Dialog’s dynamic regional sales teams across the country, the company coordinates and organises the clinics, where a team of certified optometrists conduct comprehensive screenings, following which prescriptions are collected. Based on these prescriptions, Vision 2020 partner opticians prepare custom spectacles, which are then distributed among the beneficiaries at a separate distribution event. The uniqueness and value of this initiative, unlike others, is in the fact that the beneficiaries receive custom-made spectacles to suit their specific needs. Additionally, patients who require further attention are guided to eye clinics or eye surgeons to receive additional treatment.

Commenting, Shayam Majeed, Group Chief Corporate Officer at Dialog Axiata PLC said, “Dialog has always been steadfast in our resolve to empower and enrich lives and enterprises using innovation and technology, while driving digital inclusion amongst plural segments of society. Furthermore, as a company enabling multisensory life-enhancing communication tools, we have always had a special focus on people with hearing or speech issues, and more recently expanded this ambit to those with sight issues. Dialog’s long-standing commitment to inclusivity and continuous support of these communities is further seen through the establishment of the Ratmalana Audiology Centre in 2007 and ‘Athuru Mithuru’, Sri Lanka’s 1st trilingual, free and customisable Alternative and Augmentative Communication application”.

For more information on Vision 2020, please visit http://dialogfoundation.org/what-we-do/vision-2020/