The New York-based Bausch & Lomb, the global eye health company, launched a year long celebration of its 150 years in business by announcing two major initiatives and ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange.
Bausch & Lomb has proclaimed April 29, 2004, as its Global Day of Caring. On that day, Bausch & Lomb employees around the world will participate in charitable and public service projects as a way to thank their local communities for supporting the company's operations.
In India, Bausch & Lomb announced a number of community outreach programmes that will promote eye health among school and college students, conduct advanced training workshops for eye-care specialists and organize events across the country, which is home to 25% of world's blind population, to promote eye-care awareness.
Founded in 1893 by German immigrants John Jacob Bausch and Henry Lomb, Bausch & Lomb today is a global company with nearly $2 billion in sales, 11,500 employees and strong franchises in contact lenses and lens care products and ophthalmic surgical and pharmaceutical products.
In India, the company began its operations in 1992. Over the past decade, Bausch & Lomb has demonstrated its innovative technology and know-how in eye-care by continuously bringing in new products in all three areas of eye-care that it operates in.
In vision care, the company has brought in new generation contact lenses such as Soflens Comfort, ReNu, Pure Vision and SL66 Torics. High quality foldable intraocular lenses such as Akreos & Millenium Microsurgical System have spearheaded a similar revolution in cataract, while the state-of-the-art Zyoptix vision correction procedure has ushered in a new gold standard for surgical vision correction in the country.
Simultaneously, B&L's ISO 9002 certified manufacturing facility with ReNu being manufactured under a Class 100 sterile facility & contact lenses by the Spin Casting Process. Apart from this, it has also set up a Bausch & Lomb International School of Optometry in Hyderabad.
"Our founders knew that a commitment to constant innovation was key to building a successful company," said Ronald L. Zarrella, Bausch & Lomb chairman and CEO. ``They understood that being good partners with each other and with their customers was not just the right thing to do, but could also be a competitive advantage. They never forgot that they couldn't succeed except through the efforts of their employees. They were dedicated to perfecting vision and enhancing life150 years ago - and we remain committed to their values today."
"The Bausch & Lomb story in India is not much different from that of our parent organization. Starting on a humble note a decade ago, Bausch & Lomb today is not only a leader in most segments it operates in, our brand is undoubtedly synonymous with innovative technology eye-care in the country", said J.P. Singh, managing director, Bausch & Lomb Eyecare India Ltd. "The strength of our brand in India is not only a result of our innovative products and services in eye-care, but also due to the emphasis that we lay on strong, intimate relationship with our customers. To that extent, Bausch & Lomb continues to find immense value in the principles of partnership with customers & employees, handed over by the founders, even today. We believe in total openness & transparency in our operations."
Bausch & Lomb has donated $ 1 million to the international organization Vision 2020 - The Right to Sight, a collaborative effort of the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. Its goal is to eliminate the main causes of avoidable blindness by 2020.