Building an inclusive society: Santen and International Blind Sports Federation forge partnership

Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) have joined forces to help shape an inclusive society.

Through this partnership, Santen and IBSA will strive for social inclusion by boosting people’s awareness and understanding toward people with a vision impairment, and further promote opportunities to share the joy of sports.

Santen is working to advance ophthalmology and improve the quality of vision and quality of life of people around the world, taking a thorough customer-oriented approach and harnessing their expertise and technical capabilities under the core principle of “Tenki ni Sanyo suru”. This means exploring the secrets and mechanisms of nature in order to contribute to people's health

As Santen celebrates its 130th anniversary in 2020, it intends to continue serving as a force playing an indispensable role in the resolution of worldwide social issues related to eye health. With this goal in mind, the company have drawn up a new long-term vision and set three long-term strategies for realising their “WORLD VISION – Happiness with Vision,” which is the ideal world Santen aims for.

The latest partnership with IBSA is positioned as an important action for “Inclusion,” which is one of the three strategies. By facilitating international proliferation of blind sports and offering opportunities to experience these sports to as many people as possible, Santen strives to establish an inclusive society, in which all people can live in harmony irrespective of any visual impairments.

IBSA, established in 1981, is an organisation that promotes, governs and advocates for blind sports around the world and sets a vision to help those with vision impairment achieve excellence through actively participating in sports. It supports people with a visual impairment to try sports at the grassroots level and provides a pathway through to the high-performance level, working with other sports governing bodies.

After empathising with each other’s vision and mission, Santen and IBSA decided to form a partnership to build an inclusive society. In the first of a series of initiatives, Santen has donated 10,000 Euros to IBSA in support of athletes with a visual impairment amidst the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is our tremendous honour to forge a partnership with IBSA,” said Shigeo Taniuchi, the President and CEO of Santen. “We hope to combine each other’s assets and strengths to further reinforce activities toward building an inclusive society, by way of promoting blind sports, encouraging understanding toward the vision impaired and accelerating enhancement of their quality of life around the world.”

“Santen has long been involved in activities supporting blind sports, such as sponsoring both men’s and women’s national blind football teams representing Japan, supporting events organised by the Japan Blind Football Association and offering children with vision impairment opportunities to participate in sports,” said IBSA President Jannie Hammershoi.

“The donation we have received from Santen will be invested into continuing to grow sports for people with visual impairments at all levels around the world. We are sincerely grateful for the support Santen is extending to us as it will mean we can spread the values of inclusivity still further.”

Santen and IBSA will maintain a mid- to long-term partnership to promote global initiatives through blind sports, in order to build an inclusive society, in which people interact and co-exist regardless of whether they have vision impairment or not.

About Santen

As a specialised company dedicated to ophthalmology, Santen carries out research, development, marketing, and sales of pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter products, and medical devices. Santen is the market leader for prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals in Japan and its products now reach patients in over 60 countries. With scientific knowledge and organisational capabilities nurtured over a 130-year history, Santen provides products and services to contribute to the well-being of patients, their loved ones and consequently to society. For more information, please visit Santen’s website (www.santen.com).