NEW YORK—For more than 62 percent of sight-impaired people in this remote Nepal village, blindness caused by cataract is avoidable and correctable. Through a need to solve this growing issue affecting so much of the population, Nepal’s first eyewear brand was created.

Anthropose, a for-profit, social-good company whose aim is to identify social problems and create entrepreneurial solutions, introduced a brand of sunglasses to help combat cataract. With every 10 pairs of sunglasses sold, one cataract surgery is fully funded.

The brand has partnered with the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology who evaluate the regions that are most in need of medical outreach. The purchase of Anthropose sunglasses provides financial support to the Tilgana Institute where a team of eyecare professionals can then perform cataract surgeries and give post-surgery care.

“The most important thing in health is quality,” Dr. Sanduk Ruit, medical director of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology said. “The second is availability in terms of reach.”

Many Nepalese people like 93-year-old Tula Kumari and Ram Maya Shrestha never thought of surgery as an option to help correct their vision. They simply continued living with their visual impairment although it made daily life more difficult. “We have to suffer to survive. What else can we do?” Tula Kumari said in the video. “No one knows when I will be dead, but I would rather die with vision.” Ram Maya Shrestha only sought out medications for her diminishing eyesight and was not looking into surgery as many Nepalese people cannot afford it. “I thought, what good would an operation do when I hardly had a few years to live,” Shrestha said. “However, after the operation I can see more clearly. I feel like I can see heaven now.”

Anthropose’s newest line of sunglasses will feature unisex styles crafted from premium cellulose acetate. Their motto, Get. Give. Change. means to get a pair of sunglasses, you give the gift of vision to someone in need and are able to be a part of the change, and that is what this company continues to do through their philanthropic eyewear brand. Take a closer look at Anthropose’s social purpose mission in this video.