Spectacles were invented more than 800 years ago. Since then, medicine, technology, and policy have advanced in ways, few could have imagined. Yet across much of the world, the ability to see clearly remains an unfulfilled promise. Over 1.1 billion people globally live with uncorrected refractive error. The world’s most common cause of vision impairment. It is not a complex condition. It does not require surgery. And in most cases, it can be resolved with a simple pair of glasses. It is considered the world’s Most Affordable Health Intervention, yet more than a billion live without it.
In low- and middle-income countries, which holds 90% of the affected, the barriers to access are often invisible: fluctuating funding, distribution gaps, fragile supply chains, and overstretched personnel. As a result, something as basic and transformative as a pair of spectacles remains out of reach for those who need it most.
At Vision Friend Sakib Gore, after conducting over 2.7 million free eye tests, distributing 1.6 million spectacles, and performing more than 63,000 cataract surgeries across India, we recognized that free services alone are not enough. Affordability isn’t just about pricing the product. It’s about building systems that can reach the people who are left behind.
So we asked a difficult question: What if we could make spectacles not only affordable, but sustainable at scale? That’s how the VCU (We See You) Series was born: a line of Quality, durable spectacles, priced at just $0.38 per pair. Built through a self-funded model, it was designed not to market a brand, but to quietly strengthen the missions of NGOs, schools, hospitals, and governments working on the frontlines of vision care.
Why $0.38? Because impact doesn’t need to be expensive to be effective.
In classrooms, children with uncorrected vision are five times more likely to fall behind. Globally, over 6.3 million years of education are lost every year because students simply can’t see the blackboard. And yet, a single pair of affordable glasses has been shown to improve learning outcomes by up to 50%, affecting not just academic success, but the long-term trajectory of a child’s life.
In working-age adults, the story continues. In India, a study among tea pickers found that near-vision correction alone led to a 31.6% increase in productivity, with older workers seeing even greater gains. These aren’t marginal improvements. They’re economic game-changers. Globally, the annual productivity loss from uncorrected vision is estimated at over USD 410 billion. Restoring sight doesn’t just restore function, it restores income, stability, and dignity.
Among elders, vision loss is rarely framed as an emergency. But its consequences can be fatal. Falls, many of them directly linked to visual impairment, are a leading cause of death among adults over 65. For millions of people, reading medication labels, navigating uneven streets, or simply recognising a loved one’s face becomes impossible without correction. The cost of vision loss in later life isn’t just physical. It’s emotional, isolating, and often irreversible.
This impact is not gender-neutral either. Women are 11% more likely to live with uncorrected refractive error and 35% more likely to be blind. They are also less likely to access care due to economic, cultural, and caregiving burdens. Providing spectacles to women doesn’t just restore sight. It improves child health, economic participation, and household resilience. At every stage of life, from the classroom to the factory floor, from the household to the health center, the ability to see is quietly foundational. And it has remained out of reach for far too many, for far too long.
What we’ve learned in 34 years of field work is this. You can’t fix what you can’t see, and people can’t see what they can’t afford. Systems break down when access is conditional, when impact is delayed by cost, and when vision remains the privilege of proximity. But when spectacles cost less than $0.40 and they’re built for scale, compliance, and durability, everything changes. We’ve seen that change happen, village by village. And we believe the same solution, adapted and scaled, can support national systems and international targets from 2030 In Sight to SPECS 2030 and beyond. Correcting vision is no longer just a clinical intervention. It’s a driver of education, a pillar of productivity, a lifeline to elders, and a tool for equity. More than that, it’s a pathway to long-term economic resilience and a foundation for a more dignified, inclusive society.
Because vision doesn’t just improve lives. It empowers systems to serve everyone better.
By Samit Sakib Gore : Designation – Director of Operations & Innovation