Sampath Bank partners ‘Walk for Sight’ to combat avoidable blindness and eye ailments

Sampath Bank, the third largest private commercial bank in Sri Lanka, has remained a chief CSR initiator in taking great care to respect the environment, protect human health and promote social and economic development in Sri Lanka. As a responsible corporate citizen Sampath Bank has taken enormous efforts to carry out unique activities under the ‘Hope for a Life’ project in order to address national health issues. 

As such, in its most recent initiative, Sampath Bank partnered with ‘Walk for Sight’, a humanitarian walk organised by the Vision 2020 program of the Ministry of Health to address yet another national health issue – ‘Avoidable Blindness and Eye Related Diseases’. 

Commenting on this noteworthy initiative, Sampath Bank PLC Deputy General Manager – Human Resources Aruna Jayasekera said, “Avoidable blindness and eye related diseases are on the rise amongst the Sri Lankan population; amongst a total population of 20 million people in Sri Lanka, approximately 200,000 of the population are believed to be blind due to cataract, while another 400,000, both adults and children are believed to have low vision due to refractive errors, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. 

“We took it upon ourselves to address this issue and carry out an initiative that can help bring cures and solutions to avoiding blindness and eye related disease and thus change lives for the better and for a more promising future.” 

Vision 2020 was launched in 2007 as a collaborative program between the Ministry of Health and the College of Ophthalmologists of Sri Lanka. With the objective of preventing avoidable blindness in Sri Lanka, the national program comprises a series of activities varying from primary eye care development at grass root level to upgrading centres of excellence for ophthalmic sub specialties.

‘Walk for Sight’ took place from 26 November to 12 December to raise funds and build awareness among the general public about avoidable blindness. The walk of 300 km started from Batticaloa with the end location at Galle Face Green, Colombo. For this collaboration, Sampath Bank sponsored medical camps at Padiyathalwa, Poththapitiya and Kaleliya, three locations which cover the stretch of the walk and are considered as mostly affected areas. More than 1,000 individuals were screened at the medical camps and were directed for further medical treatments, in addition to being provided with reading glasses for needy patients. 

Due to the rapidly ageing population of Sri Lanka prone to age related eye diseases and conditions, Sampath Bank’s collaboration with Walk for Sight aims to acquire a Mobile Eye Unit worth Rs. 45 million, which will enable the Vision 2020 program to conduct outreach eye camps. This initiative also builds a platform for corporate organisations as well as individuals to get involved in fund raising for such causes as a social responsibility. 

In the past years, Sampath Bank has carried several initiatives addressing national health issues and providing solutions to these issues. One of the many recent and prominent initiatives carried out by Sampath Bank was the endowment of Rs. 49 million worth of fully-fledged Neuro Navigation System to the National Hospital of Sri Lanka, the first of the series of activities under the ‘Hope for Life’ project. 

Additionally, under the same project Sampath Bank carried out the Poonewa initiative, with the aim of combating Chronic Kidney Disease, another leading health issue in the country. In consequence of fronting ground-breaking CSR initiatives and giving back to the society with a thorough understanding of various socio-economic and health needs, Sampath Bank was awarded the ‘Overall Best Corporate Citizen’ award of 2015 at the Best Corporate Citizen Sustainability Awards presented by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in recognition of the bank’s genuine efforts to make a change in people’s lives and the environment. 

Sampath Bank’s collaboration with Walk for Sight is yet another depiction of the bank’s unbound efforts to continue to address leading health issues in the nation and be committed to offering those in need with medical infrastructure, products and solutions to make a positive change in the society and the lives of citizens.