VSP Blog » Eye

VSP employees give to charity:water

Don S — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:00:11 +0000

Do you know what a leading cause of preventable blindness is? It’s a lack of clean water! There is a contagious infection called trachoma, which many of us have never heard of. It mainly occurs where people live in overcrowded conditions with limited access to clean water and health care. Caused by a bacteria, trachoma spreads rapidly in communities where people don’t have enough clean water to wash their hands and faces regularly. Washing with as little as 1 quart (4 cups) of clean water each day can prevent the disease. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, 6 million people world wide are blind due to trachoma and more than 150 million people are in need of treatment. Infection usually first occurs in childhood, but people do not become blind until adulthood.

“It’s easy to tell people, ‘You need to wash yourselves and your children regularly to prevent trachoma.’” Says Aboubakar Maman, a World Vision program manager based in Niger,West Africa. “But how can they do this when they only have one pail of water a day for the whole family? They are forced to choose between drinking and washing.”

In alignment with VSP’s mission around eye care, the VSP employees raised $11,500 and teamed up with charity:water to fund a water project and improve the health conditions in a country where drinking water was difficult to obtain. Our project is now “well” underway, with two wells currently under construction in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. In a few short months we will have improved the daily lives of hundreds of people and provided enough clean water so that they won’t be forced to make that difficult decision between drinking to stay alive and blindness.

Other Water Facts:

Right now, almost 1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That is 1 in every 8 people.
Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80 percent of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms violence, including war.
Children are especially vulnerable with 90 percent of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions being children under 5 years old.

VSP EyeFiles Webisode #4: Can Eating Carrots Really Improve Your Vision?

Liz B. — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:00:57 +0000

Can eating carrots improve your vision? That question is the next eye health myth Bill Nye and Dr. Roger Phelps tackle in the latest VSP EyeFiles series. Watch as Bill and Dr. Phelps uncover the answer and also discuss other delicious eye healthy foods that should be added to any diet like kiwi, whole grains, salmon, dark chocolate, red wine, tuna, sunflower oil, spinach, egg yolks, and kale.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And now a word from The Vision Council

Liz B. — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:00:53 +0000

Learn more about the importance of wearing sunglasses – even on cloudy, overcast days – on VSP’s Eyecare Discovery Center and The Vision Council’s Under the Sun Guide.

SeeMuchMore.com opens eyes, shows how eyecare is vital to overall health and wellness

Liz B. — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 22:38:27 +0000

Vision care provider VSP launches fun, interactive new website and video as a resource to learn about the importance of eyecare

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — An estimated 11 million Americans have uncorrected vision problems — from near- or far-sightedness to sight-threatening diseases. That’s why everyone should get an annual eye exam, starting at six months old — it’s as important as regular trips to the dentist. To educate people about eyesight and overall vision health, VSP Vision Care, the nation’s largest eyecare benefits provider, today kicked off its ‘See Much More’ campaign.

The See Much More initiative includes a fun, interactive website with loads of useful information and resources about eyesight and vision health, including:

A fast-paced video with interesting facts and things you may not know about your eyes
Tips everyone can follow to immediately improve their vision health
Information about how vision coverage helps keep eyecare affordable by reducing the cost of eye exams, eyewear and other vision-related health services
Daily surveys about eyesight and vision health
Community features, such as links to VSP’s blog, Twitter feed, Facebook page and resources for finding a doctor
Fun, interactive games and social networking applications will be added throughout the fall enrollment drive

“The goal of the See Much More website is to remind members and potential members how valuable their vision is in all aspects of their lives — personally, professionally and physically,” said Kate Renwick-Espinosa, Vice President of Marketing at VSP. “While vision coverage itself might not seem exciting, it is important and it impacts our lives in deeply meaningful ways. We want to help people learn about it in a fun, easy and accessible way.”

Learn more about taking care of your eyesight at www.SeeMuchMore.com. Whether it’s to make sure your kids can see well at school, to know that your spouse can see the road perfectly, or to be confident you can always be productive at work, great vision is vital for your health and well-being.

Photos

Twitter Pitch

Your eyesight is important. If you haven’t seen an eye doctor lately, see what you’re missing at SeeMuchMore.com

Tweet It!

News Facts

Nearly 80% of what a child learns is obtained visually… however, 1 in 4 have undetected vision problems.
65 million Americans have never had their eyes checked. Ever.
Diabetes causes 18,000 new cases of blindness in the US every year.
Eyestrain is the most common workplace-related health complaint today.
See much more at SeeMuchMore.com.

Viral Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Resource Links: See Much More; VSP; VSP Blog; VSP on Flickr; VSP on Twitter; VSP on YouTube; VSP’s Facebook Fan Page

About the VSP Family of Companies
VSP Global includes VSP Vision Care, the largest not-for-profit vision benefits and services company in the United States with 55 million members; Marchon Eyewear Inc., one of the world’s largest manufacturers, designers and distributors of quality fashion and technologically-advanced eyewear and sunwear; Eyefinity/Officemate which offer innovative solutions and the premier management software and technology to improve overall practice management and patient experience; and VSP Labs, industry leaders in new technologies, production processes, service and logistics.

Since 1997, VSP has provided more than 529,500 low-income, uninsured children with free eyecare. Through relationships including those with the American Diabetes Association and Prevent Blindness America, VSP promotes the importance of annual eye exams for maintaining eye health and overall wellness.

Press Contact:
Liz Baidoo
VSP Corporate Public Relations