SOMS, an eye-care-support NGO touches the lives of over 0.5 mln Sri Lankans
View(s):‘So Others May See Inc’ (SOMS), a social venture that provides low income individuals with greater access to corrective eye care, has touched the lives of nearly half a million low-income Sri Lankans over three years.
Since the inception of the project in mid-2011, a cumulative total of more than 21,200 people have been provided with eye care solutions. SOMS has also partnered with the Ministry of Health to screen over 485,000 school children in five districts including those living in the most disadvantaged former war zone districts, the organisation said this week in a statement.
“As SOMS continues its effort to reach more people, the organisation is reaching out to companies in Sri Lanka and encouraging them to facilitate much needed eye care for their employees, particularly for those in lower income brackets, albeit at highly discounted rates,” it said.
SOMS said it is serving two segments of people based on their income. The first category is those with very low income levels (household income below Rs. 28,000 per month) and the second comprises of employees who do not have a sufficient disposable income to afford eye glasses at the prevailing market prices. SOMS helps approximately 20-25 needy individuals each day with formal operations by providing them with custom eye exams and eyeglasses.
Commenting on SOMS’ mission, Ms. Ashanthi Mathai, Founder and President, SOMS said, “SOMS focuses on being highly efficient and has implemented a successful process of partnering with local health clinics and other entities to utilize their resources to cost-effectively provide eye care solutions to individuals in need. Limitations of funding and donors restrict the volume of eyeglasses that SOMS can supply for free, yet the demand is consistently growing in Sri Lanka”.
Mangala Yapa, Vice President, SOMS noted that the SOMS social venture model initially works through employers, particularly those with large numbers of low ranked staff who work in factories and estates. Employers have the option of fully covering the cost of providing their workforce with good quality custom-made eyeglasses or partially covering the cost and enabling monthly payroll deductions from employees to cover the remaining cost.
“With eyeglasses typically costing around Rs.8,000 and above in the retail market and with government subsidies available only for select groups of government employees, a large majority of people cannot afford eye aids. SOMS provides quality eyeglasses below market retail prices in order to make eye care solutions more accessible and in order to provide employers with a feasible discounted staff eye care solution for under Rs. 2,000,” it said.
Discussing national data, SOMS said there are currently 60 national eye surgeons serving a population of 20.6 million with several districts not having an ophthalmologist at all. National optometrist technologists are also very scarce in the country. A survey conducted in the North and East after the tsunami found 79 per cent of people had never had an eye exam in their life. In rural areas, residents have to travel considerable distances for eye care. There are an estimated 800,000 Sri Lankan residents in urgent need of corrective eyeglasses. In addition, another three million adults are presbyopic (need reading glasses). And, approximately 100,000 are blind from cataracts. SOMS urges corporates with staff in low income brackets to assist them in their effort to provide an eye care solution as the requirement is rapidly increasing in Sri Lanka.
SOMS is an International Non-Governmental Organization incorporated in the USA and registered in Sri Lanka as a Voluntary Social Services/Non-Governmental Organisation.