Ending Avoidable Blindness

The Fred Hollows Foundation works to alleviate the burden of blindness in more than 19 countries throughout the world.

Our work largely focuses on the comprehensive treatment of cataract blindness amongst the poor, but we also tackle other causes of blindness, including trachoma and refractive error.

In Africa and Asia, we help to prevent and treat childhood blindness because of its devastating effects on a child's survival and future living standards. In Australia we aim to eradicate trachoma in remote Indigenous communities. Trachoma is associated with poor and overcrowded living conditions and has been virtually eradicated in Australia's towns and cities.

Since 1992 when The Foundation was formed, we have been a world leader in the development of new methods and technologies to treat cataract in developing countries.

So far we have helped to restore sight to well over one million people. Yet there is much more to be done.

The Fred Hollows Foundation has comprehensive blindness prevention programs operating in over 19 countries throughout Africa, South Asia and South East Asia. We also work on improving eye health care for Indigenous Australians living in remote communities.

In collaboration with our local partners, we develop comprehensive programs that seek to treat or prevent the causes of blindness and to overcome the factors that stop people from receiving treatment, such as remoteness and poverty. We aim to build capacity at all levels, from village health centres to regional hospitals to national ophthalmological networks.

We also work to provide a full range of eye health services including eye health promotion, screening, prevention, curative treatment and rehabilitation.

Our programs are based on a community development approach aiming to build the capacity of local partners for long term, sustainable eye health care.

Each program is unique and is planned according to the local situation, the needs of the local people and the existing capacities of our local partners in that country.

Since 1992, The Fred Hollows Foundation and its partners have helped restore sight to more than one million people.

Following the inspiration of the late Professor Fred Hollows, The Foundation has been a tremendous catalyst for change and has been a driving force in the development and implementation of blindness prevention programs in some of the poorest and most isolated regions of the world.

Some of our more notable achievements include:

• Pioneering modern techniques of cataract surgery
• Reducing the cost of cataract surgery to as little as $25 in some developing countries
• Setting up independent and commercially successful Intraocular lens (IOL) laboratories in Nepal and Eritrea which now export to more than 50 countries and have produced over four million sight saving lenses
• Reducing the price of IOLs from over $150 to just $5
• Training local doctors and providing equipment in the countries where we work. These doctors have restored sight to more than one million people after receiving support from The Foundation.

Go here for our latest results.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that without major intervention, the number of people who are blind will increase to 75 million by 2020. Without intervention, the costs in terms of human hardship, loss of productivity, rehabilitation, education and medical services will be virtually unsupportable.

In response, WHO, in partnership with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness launched the VISION 2020 campaign to unite the world in fighting the causes of blindness.

VISION 2020 brings together governments, non-government organisations and eye care professionals to develop and implement sustainable blindness prevention programs. 

By reducing global blindness, the VISION 2020 campaign will significantly reduce the number of people living in poverty and will also reduce child mortality by tackling the causes of childhood blindness that also cause death, such as measles and vitamin A deficiency.

The Foundation is a partner of the VISION 2020 campaign.

The Foundation has also drawn up a Strategic Framework for its blindness prevention work for the coming years. The Framework outlines our commitment to:

• Substantially increase our program reach by developing our existing programs further and by implementing new initiatives
• Maintain our focus on cataract as the main cause of avoidable blindness in developing countries
• Respond to other eye care needs in the countries where we work
• Deliver a sophisticated and balanced strategy for skills and infrastructure development across our programs
• Collaborate to build and implement national blindness prevention plans with our partners
• Be prepared to respond in emergency situations and crises in the regions where we already have strong relationships and a substantial pool of trained personnel.

Find out further information about: 

> Blindness and its causes and treatments.

> Our country programs and the various ways each program is working to end avoidable blindness.

> Our Strategic Framework 2006-2010