James Chen is a man with the desire to help people see and Clearly sets out his assessment of the problems, the difference simple spectacles can make and his manifesto for helping others. In doing so Chen draws the strands together of technology, social mores and economics.
Clearly tells us that an estimated 2.5billion people’s lives are diminished because they do not have access to spectacles. The solution is a 700-year-old product that costs just pennies to make. Of those 2.5bn people half a billion just need reading spectacles and a further 350m either reading spectacles or simple distance vision specs.
Having outlined ‘the scandal the world forgot’, Chen describes the economic catastrophe visual impairment brings to those enduring subsistence lives in the Third World. The seamstress who can no longer sew or the child who cannot see the blackboard and will never learn how to read and write. Frustratingly the solution to this colossal problem is simple – a pair of spectacles. The case studies contained within the book are uplifting and illustrate perfectly how such a simple pair of spectacles can change lives. It also explains how for a few dollars an individual’s economic output can increase dramatically.
A chapter of stories is followed by one on the people for change: the Visionaries. These are the individuals and the products that go together to offer the solution to global visual impairment. Sadly international politics mean things are not as simple as bringing together the problem and the solution. Chen’s journey to help people see has not been provided with a smooth path.
Technology is a recurring theme through the book. Chen explains how an array of technologies have been developed which could help deliver spectacles and eye care. Smartphones, 3D printing, drones and adjustable spectacles all feature.
Clearly provides a neat round up of current technologies and their developers. Furthermore 3D printing of frames and lenses could put production on the ground in the areas of most need. However, while the world has access to a bottle of Coca Cola and, by 2020, a smartphone, the outlook for spectacles is not good.
Chen’s involvement with the search for a solution really began with an interest in adjustable spectacles and the launch of Adlens. He saw the work of companies such as VisionSpring, Peek and the winner of his own innovation prize, Vula Mobile as an opportunity to bring modern solutions to an age-old problem. But this was not to be.
Where Chen has been most successful was away from in-the-field ophthalmology, drones and smartphone connections. It was when he concentrated on delivery of adjustable spectacles to those in need that the reader really feels he made a difference.
Having been frustrated by the United Nations and the World Health Organisation’s prioritisation and plans for eye care Chen opted for a direct approach. Vision For a Nation (VFAN) concentrated on eye care for a specific region and opted for Rwanda.
That country was chosen for a range of reasons not least the willingness of its government to look at radical solutions. Starting in 2009 VFAN brought universal screening and adjustable spectacles to the population for $1.50 or free to those most in need. By 2017 VFAN had trained over 5,200 nurses, held 2m screenings, referred 200,000 patients, dispensed 1m eye drops and dispensed 50,000 pairs of glasses.
This example has led Chen to believe that governments around the world should follow Rwanda’s example. They should allow non-specialists to test eyesight, he says, to employ smartphones for diagnosis and testing. Glasses should be an over the counter product and the medieval cabal of eye care business and government establishment should be smashed.
Chen cites the UK Office of Fair Trading report from 1982 that concluded there was no merit in restricting the sale of spectacles. He says the complicated supply chains involved push up the price of a product made in China costing $3 on average. The irony that many Chinese people do not have access to spectacles is not lost. Restrictions on prescription glasses should be scrapped, allow the price to crash and blow open the market, says Chen. Giants such as Luxottica and Essilor are responsible for a system in which mark up is massive. All spectacles could cost the same as ready readers, he maintains. Only then will the global price and availability of spectacles follow.
Clearly’s solutions to the issue are numerous. Local production, drone delivery, 3D printing, a system called what3words that maps the world into 3m squares all get a mention as does duty reduction and smashing the old order. The simplicity of the Rwandan project speaks volumes.
Chen Is not backward in saying the Rwandan system would not have succeeded were it not for philanthropreneurship such as his. Whether governments will waive duties, welcome unregulated retail and allow entire brand-based supply chains to crumble as a result is moot.
He believes the goal of allowing everyone in the world to see can be attained and is adamant that if man is to walk on Mars in the next two decades everyone on Earth should be able to see it happen. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is working with Nasa to develop the transport to colonise the planet in the future. Chen has written to Musk to offer adjustable specs to those future Mars-bound travellers whose vision will be disrupted by prolonged micro-gravity. He did not say if he received a reply.
Clearly by James Chen, bitebackpublishing.com