Bausch & Lomb to Donate US $1 Million to International Effort to Prevent Blindness.

Business Editors

LONDON & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 3, 2003

Bausch & Lomb, one of the world's premier eye health companies, will donate US $1 million to VISION 2020: The Right to Sight in support of the quest to eliminate preventable and treatable blindness throughout the world by the year 2020.

Bausch & Lomb is the first Corporate Patron of VISION 2020.

"We are delighted that Bausch & Lomb, the leading name in eye health around the world, is joining with us as together we work with the World Health Organization, developing nations and non-governmental organizations to eradicate preventable blindness," said Dr. Gullapali N. Rao, Senior Vice President and President-Elect of IAPB / VISION 2020. "Eighty percent of the world's blindness is avoidable and the treatments available today are considered to be the most successful and effective of all health interventions. As an outstanding corporate citizen of the worldwide community, Bausch & Lomb has stepped forward with this generous donation to help bring the joy of sight to the people of the world."

Bausch & Lomb's donation comes as the company, founded in Rochester, New York, in 1853, marks its 150-year anniversary.

Ronald L. Zarrella, Bausch & Lomb Chairman and CEO, said, "Our company was founded with one purpose: to improve the way people see. As part of our commitment to perfecting vision and enhancing life, we have joined with IAPB/VISION 2020 in this international effort to mobilize the resources of governments, care-giving organizations and industry to prevent blindness."

Notes to Editor

-- VISION 2020: The Right to Sight is a global initiative of the

International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB)

and the World Health Organization (WHO), with a coalition of

international Non-Governmental Organisations. VISION 2020 aims

to eliminate unnecessary blindness in order to give all people

in the world, particularly the millions of needlessly blind,

The Right to Sight.

-- Since its launch in 1999, VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, a

global initiative to help eliminate needless blindness by the

year 2020, has made great progress in eliminating many of the

causes of avoidable blindness. The causes are frequently

associated with poverty and lack of access to quality eye care

services.

-- Prevention and treatment intervention for vision loss are

among the most cost effective health interventions currently

available, including cataract surgery, prevention of trachoma,

Mectizan for the treatment of Onchocerciasis, Vitamin A for

the prevention of childhood blindness, and the provision of

spectacles for individuals with refractive errors (e.g.

myopia).

-- Every five seconds one person in our world goes blind...and a

child goes blind every minute.

-- There are 45 million blind people and 135 million with low

vision, comprising a total of 180 million people with

significantly poor vision.(1)

-- 80% of blindness is avoidable (either treatable 60% or

preventable 20%)

-- 90% of the world's blind people live in developing countries;

there are at least nine million blind people in India, six

million in China, and seven million in Africa.

-- The successful implementation of the VISION 2020: The Right to

Sight initiative will result in a minimum saving of US$102

billion in lost productivity by the year 2020.(1)

-- If current trends continue the world's population will

increase from 6.1 billion in 2000, to 7.5 billion in 2020,

with the proportion of people over 65 years old predicated to

grow from 7% to 9% of the population. These figures will

almost double the number of blind individuals worldwide.(1)

-- VISION 2020: The Right to Sight will reduce the prevalence of

blindness worldwide, from 44 million in 2000, to 24 million in

2020, despite world population growth. Shockingly, without

VISION 2020: The Right to Sight, 76 million people will be

blind in the year 2020 of which more than half will be blind

from curable cataract.(1)

-- The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

(IAPB) was established in 1975 as a coordinating, umbrella

organisation to lead an international effort in mobilizing

resources for blindness prevention activities. Its first major

achievement was to promote the establishment of a World Health

Organization (WHO) programme for Prevention of Blindness, with

which it has remained strongly linked. More information can be

found at www.v2020.org and www.iapb.org.

For further information please contact:

VISION 2020: The Right to Sight Jo Humphries, Communications Officer Tel: + 44 207 927 2974 / E-mail: [e-mail].

(1) Frick and Foster, American Journal of Ophthalmology 135 471 2003.