Bono wearing Revo Raconteur with Blue Water lenses for "Buy Vision, Give Sight" campaign to prevent vision impairment and blindness.
Sam Jones Photography
NEW YORK – Revo Eyewear and U2 lead singer Bono announced a partnership today to help prevent vision impairment and blindness in more than five million people by 2020. The initiative, dubbed “Buy Vision, Give Sight,” will drive $10 million to the fight to improve access to eye screening, prescription glasses and eye health care in under-resourced communities around the world. To execute the initiative, Revo and Bono said they are partnering with the non-profit Brien Holden Vision Institute whose mission is to provide sustainable solutions for eyecare and end avoidable blindness and vision impairment in under-resourced communities

Bono, who has a long track record in global health, particularly as an activist in the fight against HIV/AIDS, was diagnosed with glaucoma 20 years ago. His experience with glaucoma, for which he has been able to receive excellent treatment, has made him determined to find a way to increase access to frontline eye health services for others. The U2 singer will appear in Revo advertisements and campaign materials supporting the initiative.

“The ‘Buy Vision, Give Sight’ campaign is a very personal one for me,” said Bono. “Thanks to good medical care my eyes are okay, but tens of millions of people around the world with sight problems don’t have access to glasses, or even a basic eye test. Poor eyesight may not be life-threatening, but it dramatically affects your life and your livelihood if you aren’t able to fix it. When we met with experts, they said the number one problem is untreated poor vision, which prevents a child from learning in school, or an adult from performing their job. Sight is a human right and the ‘Buy Vision, Give Sight’ initiative will help ensure millions of people have access to the eye exams and glasses they need to see.”

Bono added: “With Brien Holden, we found a partner doing remarkable work, hand-in-hand with local communities. It’s mind-expanding what they are achieving; we’re very excited to work in partnership with them and Revo.“

When a consumer purchases a new pair of Revo sunglasses, $10 from the sale of every pair, up to a total of $10 million, will be donated by Revo to the “Buy Vision, Give Sight” initiative. Funds donated by Revo to the Brien Holden Vision Institute will help pay for basic eyecare services, such as eye tests and prescription glasses, and build stronger eyecare services in target communities for the longer term by training local people to provide eyecare and detect eye diseases in their communities, the announcement said. The majority of Revo’s contribution to Brien Holden will support their “Our Children’s Vision” campaign of the Brien Holden Vision Institute whose aim is to prevent impaired vision and preventable blindness in more than 50 million children by 2020. A portion of the “Buy Vision, Give Sight” funds will also be used for eye health medical research.

An estimated 625 million people are unnecessarily blind or vision-impaired worldwide. According to the Brien Holden Vision Institute, almost 75 percent of all vision impairments including myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, un-operated cataract and glaucoma can be prevented or cured with access to preventative eyecare and treatment, including prescription glasses.

During U2’s current Innocence + Experience World Tour, Bono will exclusively wear Revo sunglasses. Additionally, he has designed a capsule collection of sunglasses for the brand comprised of five styles. It will debut in late Fall 2015 and will include lenses in various colors outfitted with Revo’s LMS technology. The collection will be available at Revo.com, Sunglass Hut stores, and other fine specialty, optical and sporting goods stores around the world. As with all Revo sunglasses, $10 from each pair of the Bono for Revo collection will go to the “Buy Vision, Give Sight” initiative. Bono has donated his time and efforts to this partnership with Revo so that all funds can be directed to the “Buy Vision, Give Sight” campaign.

Yehuda Shmidman, CEO of Sequential Brands Group, the owner of the Revo brand, commented, “We are very excited about this partnership. Revo’s pioneering lens technology has always put eye health central to Revo products, and we believe Revo buyers will embrace the idea that their purchase is helping someone else. We’re proud to support Bono and the Brien Holden Vision Institute in their efforts to bring basic eyecare services to millions of people around the world. "

The sport division of B. Robinson Optical manages the world-renowned Revo brand. B. Robinson and ClearVision Optical have a strategic alliance for the distribution of Revo to the optical channel in the USA, as VMail previously reported.