Of the 224,000 people living with blindness in Kenya, approximately 43% are affected by cataract. Trachoma ranks second to cataract as the main cause of avoidable blindness in Kenya. Of the 18 districts where trachoma is endemic, 11 are found in the Rift Valley Province.

Eye health services are currently concentrated in the urban centres throughout Kenya. In 2002 The Fred Hollows Foundation commenced a return to the Eastern Africa region. The program has initially focused its efforts in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya, the largest province in Kenya, where trachoma is endemic.

The aim of the program is to improve access to quality eye care services for those living in rural and underserved areas. Due to the success of the program, similar programs are currently being replicated throughout Eastern Africa. 

The long-term goal of the program is to assist in building the capacity of existing services so that the public health system can effectively treat and prevent avoidable blindness.

Find out more about the Kenya program.

Through our program work, The Foundation:

• Screened 27,987 people
  
  
• Performed 2,542 sight restoring surgeries and interventions
  
  
• Supported Kenya's National Trachoma Program by training 15 surgeons to perform lid surgery
  
  
• Provided training for 3 eye care theatre nurses
  
  
• Supported the surgeries of 163 children at the Nakuru Eye Unit
  
  
• Supported the Kenya National Ophthalmic Workshop - boosting the skills of 70 ophthalmic workers throughout Kenya
  
  
• Rolled out new health information management system to 11 eye units - improving the data collection and management of government eye care services
  
  
• Supported technicians servicing government eye care equipment, ensuring vital ophthalmic equipment is functioning and well maintained
  
  
• Supported the Ophthalmic Society of Eastern Africa conference and journal - helping lift skills throughout the region.