India Pharma Outlook Team | Tuesday, 07 October 2025
The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, an international leader in inclusive vision care, has partner with the World Health Organization (WHO) to expand eye health services across NITI Aayog's aspirational blocks. The partnership is supporting the WHO SPECS 2030 target to increase effective refractive error coverage by 40% by 2030.
The collaboration will take on and scale the ASHA Kirana programme of Karnataka, a model of success for the integration of eye care within the primary healthcare systems. The Government of Karnataka, along with the Foundation, has launched ASHA Kirana, which has proven even coverage capacity—for example, in the rural and other difficult-to-reach areas—through the door-to-door screenings, training of ASHA health workers, affordable spectacles, and pilot vision centres in government hospitals.
The process is going to start with pilots in five aspirational blocks. The evidence, tools, and policy guidance that will result will be used for nationwide replication of the model. The programme aspires to reinforce health infrastructure, develop long-term capacity, and increase access to eye care for marginalized communities. In this way, the programme is directly linked to universal health coverage and WHO's global targets.
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Head of Mission at EssilorLuxottica, Anurag Hans, said, “The ASHA Kirana programme of Karnataka is an instance where comprehensive eye care can be delivered on a large scale if partnerships are of the required strength. We are now prepared to transfer these valuable lessons all over the country so as to have a lasting impact.”
Dr. Roderico Ofrin, WHO Representative to India, stated, “The case of the locally led innovations outlined in this Collaboration, which conveniently provides the global health priorities with the help of equity in eye care, is one of the numerous examples.”
