Global Campaign Launches to Help the World to See www.clearly.world

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Apr 06, 2016, 09:00 ET

HONG KONG, April 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

'Clearly' Campaign Aims To Unlock The Next Revolutionary Approaches To Eye Care For The People Who Need It Most

There are 2.5 billion people around the world suffering from poor vision and no means of improving it. A new global campaign - Clearly - launches today to bring together innovators, scientists, technology firms and big business, with investors, governments and NGOs to solve this problem and help the world to see.

Poor vision is the largest unaddressed disability in the world, despite advancements across healthcare, digital and technology. Over 700 years after spectacles were invented, the striking inequality of access to eye care remains a crucial impediment to the growth of developing economies.

Clearly is a unique and innovative campaign being spearheaded by James Chen, a Hong Kong-based philanthropist and investor who is on a mission to address the problem of poor vision that the world appears to have forgotten about.

Please click here to view the Clearly film: http://www.clearly.world

With one in three people globally lacking access to eye care, Clearly seeks to address the challenges brought about by poor vision, which:

Cost the global economy $3 trillion per year
Cost developing countries socially, impacting advancement, education and families
Cost people personally. Poor sight prevents individual progress and opportunities

Clearly is a year-long campaign that will bring together the best minds in the world, with leading businesses and the most cutting-edge, innovative technology to take on this challenge and rethink the approach to world vision. It will consist of three core pillars:

1. An ideas competition for entrepreneurs, which asks technologists, supply chain experts, data scientists and forward thinkers to use their great minds and knowledge to come up with innovative solutions. The prize offers $250,000 USD of seed funding and mentoring to get the best ideas off the ground

2. A series of 'Clearly Labs' challenges for individuals who have the ingenuity and the heart to aim as high as possible to help find the answers. Innovators will come together for one day events in India, China, Silicon Valley and other global markets, meeting with health leaders and optometrists, applying their expertise and ideas to help find new thinking, new ideas and new solutions

3. A unique, global event with a small group of the world's best and most creative brainpower in one place to develop the big idea

The campaign has garnered the support of a number of Champions, including:

Agnes Binagwaho, Minister of Health, Rwanda
Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO of eyewear brand Warby Parker, and former director of charity, VisionSpring
Brian Doolan, CEO of The Fred Hollows Foundation, focused on preventable blindness in developing countries
Dave Gilboa, co-founder and co-CEO of eyewear brand Warby Parker
Sir David Tang, entrepreneur and founder of Shanghai Tang

James Chen, Hong Kong-based philanthropist and founder of the Clearly campaign, commented:

"Poor vision is the number one unaddressed disability in the world today. Despite human advancements on so many levels, we have forgotten about one of the most basic needs of all - sight. It is astounding that, 700 years after spectacles were invented, billions of people in the developing world still do not have access to something as simple as a pair of glasses.

"Good vision empowers and transforms lives on every level. In the digital era, the world has the ideas and the technology to crack this challenge and transform access to sight around the world. Through Clearly, I hope to inspire creative minds and unlock innovative solutions to solve this global problem, accelerating a revolution in eye care and helping the world to see."

Sir David Tang, Champion of Clearly, commented:

"Access to good sight should not be a luxury. Yet, 2.5 billion people are still forced to go without clear vision. Radical new thinking is necessary to rectify this. The Clearly campaign is a catalyst for this, and will sharpen the sights of millions."

For further information and to get involved in the campaign, please visit: http://www.clearly.world

About Clearly

Clearly is a global campaign focused on helping the world to see.

There are currently 2.5 billion people in the world that have poor vision and no means of improving it. It is the number one unaddressed disability in the world.

Clearly is a year-long campaign that seeks to inspire talented and creative minds to solve this problem that the world has forgotten about - and help the world to see.

Launching in April 2016, Clearly focuses on three core pillars:

An 'ideas' competition for entrepreneurs
A series of 'Clearly Labs' challenges, for companies who have the ingenuity and the heart to aim as high as possible to help find the answers
A unique, global event with a small group of the world's best and most creative brainpower in one place to develop the big idea

http://www.clearly.world

About James Chen

Born in Asia, raised in Africa and educated in Europe and the US, James Chen is a venture philanthropist with a global outlook.

He is founder of his family office Legacy Advisors Ltd, Chairman of Wahum Group Holdings, a third generation family-owned manufacturing business, and founder of the Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation, which has a focus on early childhood literacy, library development and education enhancement.

James is the founder of Adlens, a global enterprise leading the development and sale of adjustable focus eyewear, and the founder of Vision for a Nation Foundation, a UK charity that supports emerging nations to provide nationwide primary eye care and affordable glasses to all their citizens.

Clearly is the culmination of James' 12 year journey to improve universal access to eye care.

SOURCE Clearly