These vision centers, which will offer eye care services, will be set up with leading partners operating in this segment, across 8 states under the “Seeing is Believing by Standard Chartered” initiative. This will include 58 futuristic vision centers, which will help strengthen the teleophthalmology system and clinical evaluation; aid early detection of complex conditions; and reduce referral travel, thus bridging the geographic gap between primary and tertiary care. Some of these vision centers will focus on disability-inclusive rehabilitation services – people with disabilities will be referred for medical, livelihood or education support as required. The bank will also be engaging with several community-based organizations for delivering comprehensive, equitable, and sustainable eye health services especially for women who generally bear a heavier burden of avoidable blindness. The bank said in a statement in the first stage, 90 vision centers including 14 futuristic vision centers, will be launched by end of December 2020 in partnership with L.V. Prasad, CBM India, Sightsavers India,
Dr. Shroff’s Charitable Eye Hospital, Sewa Sadan Eye Hospital, Mission for Vision, C.L. Gupta and Alakh Nayan Mandir in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. Zarin Daruwala, CEO, India, Standard Chartered Bank, said since FY2018-19, the bank has made substantial investment across 13 projects and 10 partners in the ‘Seeing is Believing by Standard Chartered’ program. This investment, she said, is expected to reach 6.8 million people, conduct 200,000 cataract operations, distribute 672,000 spectacles, carry out over 16,000 sub-specialty surgeries and declare over 3,000 villages blindness free through these over 200 new vision centers.
