Corporate Social Responsibility

Alcon’s Corporate Giving efforts, including the Alcon Foundation and Alcon Cares, help people around the world by increasing access to quality eye care, driving eye care provider training and skills-transfer and strengthening the communities in which we live and work.

Access, Training and Engagement

We are committed to
increasing access to quality eye care for people everywhere. Through our donations and partnerships, we help organizations deliver eye care services to hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide every year.

Access

Increasing access to quality eye care is impossible without first expanding access to hands-on training and education. We support programs that provide learning opportunities for eye care professionals around the world.

Training

Our people strive to make a personal difference in the world. Alcon associates worldwide help strengthen their communities by volunteering their time and resources to support local organizations that serve those communities.

Engagement

Corporate Responsibility Report

Alcon has been actively engaged in environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives during our 70+ years in ophthalmology and optometry. In publishing our first Corporate Responsibility Report as an independent, standalone company, we are sharing our perspective on corporate citizenship and demonstrating how our ESG efforts reflect our foundational principles: we care for and delight our customers; we pursue and drive innovation; and we care for and inspire our people.

2019 Corporate Responsibility Report

Responsible Business Practices

We are committed to demonstrating integrity in everything we do. What we do at Alcon is critical to help people see better; how we conduct our business in the workplace, in the marketplace, and in society determines our success as a business. We believe in conducting our business fairly and ethically and in a manner consistent with all applicable legal and industry code requirements.

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Increasing Access to Quality Eye Care

In many geographic locations around the world, a robust, quality eye care system is often limited or not available at all. That’s why we partner with organizations and support programs that help increase access to sustainable eye care for patients around the world. As a result, hundreds of thousands of underserved patients have received quality eye care services they might not have otherwise received.

Preserving Sight and the Beauty That Comes With It

Sight is precious. That’s why Alcon is dedicated to preserving sight and the beauty that comes with it. Through the Alcon Foundation, Alcon Cares and our affiliates, Alcon partners with eligible charitable organizations to provide monetary, product and equipment donations, with the goal of improving sight around the world.

Alcon Giving

Our corporate giving supports hundreds of charitable organizations. Our programs align with our giving objectives, through monetary donations, product and equipment donations, and associate volunteer activities.

Featured story - December 8, 2020

Mercy Ships Delivers Hope and Healing in Senegal

In August 2019, our partner, Mercy Ships, deployed the Africa Mercy to Senegal, West Africa for a 10-month service program.

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In August 2019, our partner, Mercy Ships, deployed the Africa Mercy to Senegal, West Africa for a 10-month service program. As COVID-19 started spreading earlier this year, Mercy Ships was forced to depart Senegal 10 weeks early for the safety of their patients and crew. Despite the early departure, Mercy Ships provided critical ophthalmic care to underserved patients from remote regions of Senegal, and ophthalmic training to local eye care providers, enabling them to continue providing care for years to come.

543 eye surgeries (primarily cataract) provided to adults and children
3 ophthalmic surgeons from three regions participated in two-week surgeon mentorships
60 eye care providers participated in various ophthalmic training courses, including glaucoma, strabismus and retina care

Charitable Monetary Donations

Alcon provides charitable monetary donations (often referred to as grants) to eligible 501(c)3 organizations that offer high-quality programs and services to increase access to quality eye care, promote eye health education, and strengthen the communities in which we live and work. These donations are offered through the Alcon Foundation.

Learn more about the Alcon Foundation’s criteria, objectives and restrictions:

The Alcon Foundation

How to apply for a monetary donation from the Alcon Foundation:

To determine eligibility to apply for a donation from the Alcon Foundation, please first review the criteria, objectives and restrictions documents above. Well-aligned applications can then be submitted upon successful completion of the online eligibility questionnaire.

Eligibility Questionnaire

Charitable Product and Equipment Donations

Alcon donates ophthalmic medicines and devices to local eye care clinics who work to improve and restore vision to patients around the world. Our donations help improve the sustainability of these clinics so they can provide long-term care to more people. We also donate product and equipment to short-term medical missions that deliver eye exams and surgeries for patients and training for local eye care professionals. All product and equipment donations are offered through Alcon Cares.

Medical Missions Support Temporarily Restricted

(updated January 19, 2021)

Medical missions are a valuable means to help people see brilliantly, and our commitment to responsibly supporting medical missions with product donations remains as strong as ever. COVID-19 continues to pose a significant health risk to the global community. To protect traveling volunteers and in-country medical teams and patients, Alcon Cares’ medical mission support is temporarily limited to countries accepting U.S. visitors, where minimum requirements we’ve established are met. We are vetting each medical mission request on the basis of its particular circumstances, including the destination’s U.S. State Department Travel Advisory level, partner support, and patients’ access to post-operative care. We will continue to monitor and assess the situation and advise our partners of any updates to our policies.

We’re available at 800.222.8103 or [email protected] if you have any questions or suggestions.