Chat with Hermann Holst, owner of Vision Care   ‘Many conditions if diagnosed early can be treated to avoid permanent visual problems’  |10 December 2021

Hermann Holst

World Sight Day is observed annually on the second Thursday of October and is a global event meant to draw attention to blindness and vision impairment. To raise more awareness on this global phenomenon, this year to coincide with the day, I talked to Herman Holst, the owner of Vision Care who has for many years invested and is still investing a lot in services to protect and preserve the eye sight of our people.

He also recently opened a new outlet at Pieds Dans l'Eau Building in the south of Mahé at Anse Royale to cater for his clientele from this part of Mahé.

Seychelles NATION: Please tell us about your new service in the south?

Hermann Holst: Vision Care has opened a new outlet at Anse Royale with the same proven professional staff, customer service and quality products that our clients have been getting used to over the last 19 years.

Seychelles NATION: Why was it important for you to bring the service to the south?

Hermann Holst: We wanted to move to the south long ago but also wanted to have the perfect place and visibility which we finally got. Anse Royale is becoming very busy and a lot of people from the south do not want to come to town any longer due to the regular traffic jam as well as parking problems.

Seychelles NATION: How did the pandemic affect your business?

Hermann Holst: That is a good question…obviously we have been affected by the lockdowns as well as the foreign exchange rates but overall this pandemic has shown the Seychellois people that there is quality eye care services in Seychelles and there is absolutely no reason to spend your forex on glasses when travelling. Somehow people are of the opinion that eye care overseas is better and cheaper but we have proven them wrong during this period when they could not travel. We had so many clients complimenting us on our excellent service and they have been so surprised of what we can offer as well as the affordability and speedy service.

Seychelles NATION: Last year starting January 2020, Vision Care was offering free, fully comprehensive eye tests throughout the year 2020 from all  its outlets which fall  under the global initiative of VISION 2020. Update us on that please.

Hermann Holst: VISION2020 was somehow paralysed by Covid -19 and we took the decision to keep the free fully comprehensive eye examination for the whole year of 2021. Only on Praslin we   started asking a small fee from October 1 as transportation costs did not allow us to keep up this offer.

Seychelles NATION: What advice would you give to people when it comes to caring for their eyes.

Hermann Holst: Another interesting question…it starts with the kids. Vision Care is and has been offering free fully comprehensive eye examinations for children from the age of 5 until 12 and for R300 we supply the kids with a fashionable pair of glasses plus a case and a cleaning cloth. Not enough parents make use of this great offer. As a result children with undiagnosed problems suffer from learning difficulties. During the pandemic and the resulting lockdown, kids had to use more digital devices which aggravated the visual deficiencies even more.

A balanced life between digital devices and being out among nature will go a long way…which brings me to the next topic. Short-sightedness or myopia is very much on the rise due to lifestyle changes meaning they spend more time indoors and in front of computers or phones.

For the last 18 month we have introduced myopia control with special lenses as well as special contact lenses which can help to avoid myopia to deteriorate.

For everybody else, my advice is to come for regular eye examinations and not to wait until it is too late.

Many conditions if diagnosed early enough can be taken care of and permanent visual problems could be avoided.

Last but not least I want to thank my staff for being behind me as without them and their dedication this new venture would not have been possible.

Vidya Gappy