Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia in 1975. Within weeks of taking power, they had forcibly relocated the population of Phnom Penh and other urban areas into the countryside of Cambodia.

Over the next three years, three million people died from starvation, disease and execution. The national infrastructure of Cambodia was dismantled, currency was abolished and the country was renamed Democratic Kampuchea.

Peace was not completely restored until 1993 when democratic elections were held and the Kingdom of Cambodia was proclaimed again, with a system of constitutional monarchy. By this time, however, the country's economy was shattered and its people scarred.

The Foundation has worked in Cambodia since 1998 and in this time our programs have made a significant impact at national, provincial and community levels. One way we're doing this is by working to train more ophthalmologists and provide them with the necessary skills to restore sight.

The Foundation's programs currently service around half of the Cambodian population, across seven provinces.

Find out more about the Cambodia program.

Through our program work in Cambodia, The Foundation:

• Screened 43,304 people
  
  
• Carried out 10,197 sight-restoring or sight-improving interventions - including 4,168 cataract surgeries
  
  
• Trained 753 eye health workers, including 6 surgeons and 357 community health workers
  
  
• Constructed new secondary eye care unit in Kampong Chhnang Province (funded by The Foundation and AusAID) as part of the Australian Blindness Initiative
  
  
• Supported 4 blind schools in Cambodia - including provision of vision assessments and visual aides
  
  
• Trained local nurses and teachers to screen school children for visual impairment - also provided spectacles and surgical treatment
  
  
• Continued to support ophthalmology residency program which will double the number of ophthalmologists by 2012
  
  
• Completed research into the leading causes of childhood blindness in Cambodia
  
  
• Helped promote eye care awareness through World Sight Day activities. Ophthalmologists appeared on local television answering questions about eye health initiatives and blindness prevention in Cambodia.