Here’s my view on why glasses should be more accessible
I barely remember the day I learned my inability to clearly see the board in class was a solvable problem.
My mom got a call from the school nurse. Little six year old me, barely halfway through first grade, was quickly whisked away for an appointment with the local optometrist.
Had glasses not been invented between 1268 and 1300, I and the vast majority of my family and friends would be living an entirely different life.
Okay, pause. Take a quick second and try to remember all the people in your life who wear glasses.
Is it a lot? A little?
Now realize you are only one person and the people you know who wear glasses are only a tiny fraction of those with less than stellar vision.
That’s not even counting those who wear contacts. Try to multiply the number of people you know who wear glasses by a thousand, a million, a. billion worldwide.
2.5 billion people are living today who need glasses but don’t have access to them. Glasses are expensive, there may be few to no professionals in the area to go to. However, this is no excuse.
The average price of prescription glasses without insurance is $351 while prescription goggles sell from $8 to $15.
I have tried both and honestly, I see just as well in the goggles. There is an unnecessary expense to glasses which fuels an industry profiting off the disadvantaged.
In my English class last year, I did research on the education of children in developing countries following our study of the book “I am Malala.” It led me to discover the plight of near or farsighted children in educational settings.
Too many smart, capable young students saw their futures snatched away as they struggled to keep up with the rest of the class. Their vision became a disability. They had no school nurse or local optometrist.
95% drop out of school, many leaving before the completion of primary school with much lower attendance rates. The lack of resources for these children destroys their potential.
The global need for eyeglasses is one of the largest health crises of our time. I can’t imagine my life without the gift of sight granted by glasses.
It’s important that we raise awareness of increasing accessibility amongst all individuals in our communities near and far.
I can’t imagine the lives of countless others who suffer from a lack of accessibility and a lack of resources to support them in their day to day lives. When a problem can be solved, it should be, and a greater global initiative must be put in place to correct the world’s vision.
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