Dialog Partners Vision 2020 – Programme to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness

(L-R) Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Group Chief Executive at Dialog Axiata PLC, Dr. D M R B Dissanayake, Secretary - Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine and Dr. P.G. Mahipala, Director General of Health Services.

Sri Lanka's premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata PLC, partnered ‘Vision 2020’, a joint programme by the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness to eliminate avoidable blindness amongst citizens. The Global Vision 2020 programme consists an international membership of government agencies, non-governmental organisations, professional associations, eye-care institutions and corporates around the world.

In Sri Lanka, the programme is spearheaded by the Ministry of Health, who aim to reduce avoidable blindness through the implementation of a sustainable national programme as part of the National Health System. Since its inception in 2007, the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka has made significant progress in preventive and curative eye care services in the island under the Vision 2020 programme.

Dialog Axiata PLC donated a sum of 6.25 million rupee to the fund for the provision of free spectacles to patients in Sri Lanka under the Vision 2020 programme over the next two years. The agreement was signed in Colombo last week, and over 10,000 custom-made spectacles will be distributed free under Vision 2020 following this donation.

"Information and access to data are critical in the modern milieu, and our philosophy for inclusion mandates the extension of life-enriching services to non-traditional or under-served segments. Through our partnership with the Vision 2020 programme, Dialog hopes to assist in providing the gift of sight to thousands of Sri Lankans, which in turn would provide them equal access to information and opportunity," said Michael de Soyza, Head of the Group Corporate Office at Dialog Axiata PLC.

As part of its philosophy to drive digital inclusion amongst all segments, Dialog makes a particular effort to extend its services, which are applicable and affordable to those with physical disabilities and special needs. Dialog’s commitment and support to the hearing and speech impaired through the establishment of the Ratmalana Audiology Centre in 2007, and ‘Talking Hands’ – the special mobile package for the hearing impaired serve as examples of the Company’s long-standing commitment to inclusivity and to serve all segments of the population.