Near vision & eyeglasses

Our Approach

One billion people in the developing world live with vision impairment that could be corrected. Approximately 800 million simply need a $1.50 pair of reading glasses.

Solutions Insights Lab conducted more than 100 in-depth interviews with pharmacists, community health workers and other providers to document what’s working to get glasses to those who need them. This project includes sharing research findings directly with providers and understanding how those insights impact the distribution and uptake of reading glasses.

What We Discovered

We distilled high-level insights about what’s working to get reading glasses to those who need them. Highlights include the importance of marketing campaigns that demedicalize reading glasses, the role of government partnerships and how to price eyeglasses to increase uptake.

In addition, we created systems maps focused on the specific ways that pharmacies and community health workers are connecting people with eyeglasses. We dug beneath the surface to trace the impact of recurring trends, underlying rules and relationships and beliefs and assumptions in these contexts on eyeglass distribution and uptake.‍

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Provinus Mukhim, a teacher in Meghalaya, India, on being matched with eyeglasses through The/Nudge Institute.

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Ailis Shadap, a weaver in Meghalaya, on how a $2 pair of glasses changed her ability to work.

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‍Last Mile Health in Ethiopia on how eyeglass access is building trust in community health systems and connecting people to further care.

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