With preventable blindness set to triple to 115 million by 2050, Halma plc rolls out eye screening to all employees as part of global campaign
19 December 2018
- Screenings will test general eye health and spot early signs of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy
- First 200 employees screened as Halma prepares to roll eye screening out globally
- Campaign will raise up to $200,000 (USD) for eye health in underserved communities
Halma plc, a global group of life-saving technology companies, is offering employees across its more than 40 businesses eye health screenings as part of a global campaign to end preventable blindness. The campaign supports the group’s purpose of growing a safer, cleaner, healthier future for everyone, every day.
As the global Halma Gift of Sight campaign prepares to roll out, 200 employees across Halma headquarters in Amersham, UK; Keeler in Windsor, UK; and Volk in Mentor, Ohio, USA, were screened in the last weeks of December.
Andrew Williams, Group Chief Executive, said: “Blindness creates social dependency, reduces the workforce, shortens lives, and robs children of education. As companies within Halma produce the world’s leading eye health technology, we want to raise awareness of the importance of good eye health through regular screening, and at the same time, collectively raise up to $200,000 for the Himalayan Cataract Project – an international NGO focused on curing blindness in underserved communities.”
Preventable blindness is set to treble to affect more than 115 million people by 2050, even though 80% of blindness worldwide is reversible or preventable with early diagnosis. Halma’s Gift of Sight campaign aims to raise awareness of this issue around the world, by offering to support eye health screenings of its 6,000+ employees at their place of work.
The eye health screenings will test for Glaucoma and Diabetic Retinopathy – some of the leading causes of preventable blindness across the world today. Some screenings will also examine visual acuity, take fundus images and measure intra-ocular pressure.
Halma has five eye health companies in the group with a global presence, providing surgical instruments and diagnostic devices to assess eye health and assist with eye surgery. Halma’s ophthalmic companies are: Volk, Keeler, Medicel, MST and Visiometrics. Together, they represent some of the most well-loved brands by eye care professionals the world over.
Job Heintz, CEO of Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP), said, "Halma's ophthalmic companies are widely respected and we are thrilled to be working together to combat avoidable blindness. Eighty percent of the global burden is treatable or preventable, with half due to cataracts. With amplified public engagement and support from companies like Halma, cataract blindness is one public health problem we can overcome."
Halma will contribute $25 (USD) to HCP for each employee who takes part in the eye screening, up to a combined total of $100,000. Employees will also have an opportunity to donate directly to HCP, which will be matched up to $100,000 by an individual donor. Each $25 donation can enable Himalayan Cataract Project to restore sight by providing the material costs for one life-changing cataract surgery to poor and underserved populations that would otherwise go without care.
Arjit Bansal, product manager, Volk, said: “On a humanitarian level it satisfies me – and it’s given me a great opportunity to test some of our products and see the real-life impact of what we are doing. I can see people getting screened and understanding more about their eye health, and I feel like the purpose that we started with has come to life. I am proud to be part of an organisation that really cares about people.”
Christine Harajda, sales and marketing executive, Keeler, said: “I feel very passionate about my eye health because my mother’s eyesight is so poor. Several years ago, my mother had an operation for a detached retina and so I take my own eye health quite seriously – I regularly get my eyes tested and my friends often laugh because I will always wear sunglasses to protect my eyes.”
Katarzyna Bugajska, supply chain and purchasing assistant, Keeler, said: “It’s really nice to have your employer provide something like that – something that looks after your health. I was aware that my glasses needed changing, but now I’ve had that confirmed.”
Halma launched the campaign on World Sight Day 2018 (11 October), an international day of awareness held annually to focus attention on the global issue of blindness and visual impairment. The campaign is a partnership with the Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP), an international NGO focused on curing blindness in underserved communities.
Halma’s Gift of Sight film details its work with HCP in Ghana.
Employees at Volk in Mentor, Ohio being screened for sight-threatening conditions with Keeler’s hand-held tonometer, TonoCare, earlier this week. Screenings will test general eye health and spot early signs of glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy – some of the leading causes of preventable blindness worldwide.
Seen here is the Volk Pictor Plus, a portable lightweight ophthalmic camera, screening for preventable eye conditions. In an interview, Volk President Jyoti Gupta explained “Pictor Plus, is what we call a non-mydriatic camera, which means that the eye does not need to be dilated. It is used to look at the back of the eye, or what we call the retina”. Volk has donated a Pictor Plus to HCP’s partner on the ground in Ghana.
ENDS
About Halma
Halma plc is a global group of life-saving technology companies. Our companies provide innovative solutions to many of the key problems facing the world today, from water security to preventable blindness. Halma is a FTSE 100 company (LSE: HLMA) with over 6,000 employees in more than 40 subsidiaries worldwide. Together we have a Purpose that drives everything we do: Growing a safer, cleaner, healthier future for everyone, every day.
Our business is spilt into four sectors. Halma’s Process Safety products protect people and assets at work. Infrastructure Safety saves lives, protects infrastructure and enables safe movement. Our Medical Sector technologies enhance the quality of life for patients and improves quality of care delivered by providers. Our Environmental and Analysis companies focus on products and technologies for analysis in environmental safety and life sciences markets.
About Himalayan Cataract Project
The Himalayan Cataract Project (HCP), an international NGO established in 1995, works to cure needless blindness with the highest quality care at the lowest cost. HCP does this through the provision of direct service, education and the establishment of world class eye care infrastructure. Over the past 23 years, working with partners in more than 20 countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, HCP has provided screening and treatment for over 9.9 million people, made it possible for over 810,970 people to regain their sight, and has indirectly served hundreds of thousands more through the 1,206 doctors and teams that HCP has trained.
Contacts:
- Halma: Kitty Parkes, Head of Content
- e:[email protected]
- Brunswick Group: Quinn Wikeley, Director
- e: [email protected]
- HCP: Angelia Rorison, Communications Manager
- e: [email protected]
