TRANSITIONS AND PREVENT BLINDNESS AMERICA
REACH MILLIONS WITH UV AWARENESS MESSAGE
New Online UV Education Resource and Expanded Consumer Outreach
Made Possible Through Transitions® Healthy Sight for Life Fund
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 5, 2007 – Drawing on support from the Transitions® Healthy Sight for Life Fund, Prevent Blindness America has expanded its efforts to make the importance of UV protection for the eyes top-of-mind among consumers. Beginning in May – Prevent Blindness America’s “National Sight Saving Month: UV Awareness” – the organization kicked off its expanded campaign with the launch of a new online UV Learning Center sponsored by Transitions. Publicized through consumer media outreach and a special message following Transitions’ television commercial, millions of consumers were encouraged to visit the site to learn more about the dangers of UV exposure and the importance of UV blocking eyewear.

“As more consumers look to the Web for health education, having an online resource to educate them on UV and other important aspects of eye protection is absolutely critical,” said Daniel D. Garrett, senior vice president, Prevent Blindness America. “With its focus on UV-protection education, Transitions has been an ideal partner to support the new online UV learning center and aid us in expanding our UV awareness campaign.”

Since its introduction in May, the online UV Learning Center has been a popular destination for UV education. Found at www.PreventBlindness.org/UV, the site features a section on the dangers of UV to the eyes, specific tips on protecting the eyes from the sun, UV safety news, plus a quiz for consumers to test their UV knowledge. More than 200 million consumers learned about Transitions Optical’s partnership with Prevent Blindness America through Transitions advertising, while Prevent Blindness America drove traffic online with sponsored links featured on search engines when “UV” and other key words are entered. The site has contributed to more than 300,000 visitors to date, including 85,000 unique visits by consumers in the month of June alone. Additionally, more than 600 individual requests have been made for Prevent Blindness America’s UV brochure.

“UV protection is an important and relatively easy step consumers can take to preserve their vision for the future – the only real barrier is awareness,” said Mary O’Hara, corporate giving liaison, Transitions Optical, Inc. “This is why Transitions was pleased that our partnership with Prevent Blindness America has resulted in an even more intense focus on UV protection education and why we are so excited by these early results.”

The Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund’s support of Prevent Blindness America was funded through a national grant made possible by consumer and eyecare professional participation in Transitions Optical’s national “Spin & Win Sweepstakes.” To support Prevent Blindness America’s efforts to educate on healthy sight and UV protection, Transitions pledged a donation for every pair of Transitions® lenses registered using the Transitions Certificate of Authenticity.

Fund Materials Serve as Healthy Sight Resources
Through the Transitions Healthy Sight for Life Fund, Transitions Optical offers a number of resources for eyecare professionals to help educate their patients about healthy sight. Available in English, Spanish and French Canadian, an educational brochure and DVD address the importance of healthy sight at every stage in life and inspire patients to take the steps today – like getting regular eye exams and wearing UV protection – to optimize their vision and protect it for the future. Eyecare professionals can request complimentary copies of these resources to use in-office or at community events by visiting the Transitions Web site at www.HealthySightforLife.org.