Making eyeglasses accessible to the very poor: Creating a market in rural India

• Main Authors: Patrick Cherrier, Bhuvaraghan Jayanth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institut Veolia Environnement 2009-10-01
• Series: Field Actions Science Reports
• Subjects: hospitals; eye sight; India; health delivery
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/355

In rural India, several hundred million people need glasses to see properly, but low incomes and difficulty of access to prescriptions prevent them from doing so.  After identifying the demand and investigating the market with the assistance, in particular, of Indian hospitals, we designed a very low-cost Essilor production line and distribution circuit using mobile vans.  As a result, we can sell spectacles for as little as a few dollars.  The system has been running since 2005 and the economic model seems to be validated.  Sales are still on the low side, but we consider that this is an economic enterprise in its own right which is only now emerging.  We are considering how it could be implemented and rolled out to other countries.