The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Italia Foundation continues its journey through the streets of Rome’s neighborhoods.
In the Casa della Città, in Garbatella – the second stop on the journey after Tor Bella Monaca – the Foundation has set up a free temporary eye clinic for the most vulnerable people. Nearly seven hundred poor, marginalized, or socially and health-disadvantaged people will benefit from it from June 9 to 20.
The initiative is part of the “Sight Days” initiative launched by EssilorLuxottica on the occasion of the Holy Jubilee 2025, and implemented thanks to the doctors of the Ophthalmology Operating Unit of the Policlinico Umberto I. «We are delighted that this initiative actively involves all our young doctors, committed to providing healthcare services to people in fragile conditions – says Leopoldo Spadea, Director of the Ophthalmology U.O.C. –. Eye Clinic at the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome. It is a precious opportunity to concretely promote visual prevention and to strengthen in our younger professionals the sense of social responsibility that must always guide the medical profession».
A unique experience with a strong social value, concretely rooted in the spaces of the city. «As the Department of Heritage, we believe that public spaces must be living places, open to serving the community - explains Tobia Zevi, Councilor for Heritage and Housing Policies of the Municipality of Rome -. It is with this spirit that we have decided to make the Casa della Città, recently renovated, available to the Foundation to host and sponsor this initiative of high social value».
Promoting opportunities to support vulnerable people is of great importance, even more so if done to help recover a precious and indispensable asset such as sight. «Initiatives like this represent a model of public health, because they implement the concept of proximity care: care capable of bringing care closer to the patient, of intercepting needs where they arise and of offering timely, effective and accessible responses to all - says Marcello Gemmato, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Health -. As the Ministry of Health, we look favorably on projects such as those promoted by the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Italia Foundation, because they bring together the commitment of institutions, the generosity of volunteers and the expertise of healthcare professionals, to ensure that the right to health is always guaranteed, even to those living in fragile conditions».
And, as always, a thought for Pope Francis. «We would like to ideally dedicate this second clinic of the Jubilee program to Pope Francis, with whom we had the honor of sharing our initiative in January – says Andrea Rendina, Secretary General of the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Italia Foundation –. His words have inspired us to carry it forward with renewed sobriety and a spirit of solidarity».
The Sight Days program is bringing extraordinary and tangible results: over a thousand people have already received a pair of glasses and four hundred have been directed towards clinical tests. «We are deeply happy to contribute to improving the eyesight of so many, because seeing better also means living better», concludes Rendina.
Lavinia Sdoga
