Making glasses affordable for India's poor

There are hundreds of millions of people in rural India who need glasses to be able to see normally. However, they have problems with getting them for a number of reasons. These include the need to go to a hospital in a city to have an eye test, their total lack of financial resources and their fatalistic attitude to life. In the course of a co-operative programme carried out with Indian hospitals, Essilor discovered this area of deprivation. It subsequently designed a very low-cost production chain, a distribution network which used mobile vans and a convincing sales talk, all of which enabled Essilor to sell glasses for just a few dollars. This operation has been in place for two years and it seems that the business model has proved to be justified. Even though the scheme is still on a small scale and has a turnover of only tens of thousands of dollars, this initiative has still managed to arouse a great deal of interest amongst many people in the business community. What is emerging is an economic business in its own right.