Clear Vision – Punjab India
Updated 3.1.2024
Goal: 1 Million Screenings!
Touch of Color-VisionSpring Partnership
Touch of Color has partnered with VisionSpring which is an international healthcare organization, working in the field of vision care services and products. VisionSpring has provided more than 10 million glasses worldwide—50% of it in India—after conducting eye exams and providing prescription (or reader) eyeglasses.
Together, Touch of Color and VisionSpring, have launched “Clear Vision Punjab” (CVP) project to make the state of Punjab in India, especially the rural areas, “refractive-error-free” over a period of 7 years. The objective is to make Punjab a model state for other states in India to emulate, and to make the whole country “refractive-error-free”.
In India, an estimated 300 million people require eyeglasses for vision correction. Blurry vision compromises one’s ability to work effectively, to read and learn in school, and to navigate surroundings with ease and safety. For many living in developing countries suffering from vision loss, a pair of eyeglasses could mean the difference between opportunity and loss of income and quality of life.
VisionSpring has deployed a team of eye-care professionals in Punjab, who set up camps in different villages of Punjab, and move from one district to the next. This team determines the eye power of all people visiting the camps and dispenses eyeglasses on the spot, or in 21 days in case of certain prescription eyeglasses.
With the CVP project, we were able to correct the vision of approximately 20,000 people in the first year itself, with the aim to scale this to a much higher number in the following years. With the cooperation of other corporate sponsors, and the support of Government of Punjab, we are aiming to cover all areas of rural Punjab. The state of Punjab is a model which can then be followed in other states, with the ultimate goal of covering the entire rural areas of India.
Clear Vision Punjab report January 2024:
Touch of Color-VisionSpring Mobile Van
In 2023, Touch of Color purchased a mobile van to be used at TOC-VS eye camps, and we have been using this van to do eye screenings for this project since April 2023. The total number of screenings done in this van are 6,312 and the overall number of glasses distributed by the van is 3,052 to date. The van helps reduce the amount of time needed to set up and dismantle the camps and helps us reach remote rural areas of Punjab, where 70-80% of the population never had their vision tested.
Medical Clinic
With the focus on health and improving the living conditions of people in India, Touch of Color has set up a medical clinic in the village of Lasara, Punjab. There is a full-time visiting physician and the people of Lasara village and the neighboring villages can get medical treatment for a nominal cost. This has made it easier for people in the village to get medical help close by, instead of having to travel for an hour to a bigger town to see a doctor, as they do not have the transportation readily available to travel.
Medical Camps
We also hold medical camps in different areas of medicine, like, cardiology, gynecology, orthopedics etc., where doctors and and nurses from a reputable hospital in Ludhiana, Punjab, come and set up the camp for the day in the village. The patients can get free check-ups and they are advised of further treatment, if necessary. On October 19, 2022, a medical camp was organized at MJ Medical Center in the Village of Lasara, Punjab, India. It was a successful camp and more than 250 people were able to take advantage of the free services offered. This is an annual event hosted on the Mentor’s, MJ Singh’s, birthday on October 29th.