The Fred Hollows Foundation is preparing to launch a week-long eye intensive for Indigenous people in desperate need of cataract surgery.

The Foundation’s Indigenous Programs Manager, Joy McLaughlin, says an estimated 50 cataract patients will have their sight restored at Alice Springs Hospital later this month.

“The biggest eye health challenge facing Indigenous people is to reduce the current rate of blindness, which is six times the rate for non-Aboriginal people,” McLaughlin says.

“The Foundation’s Indigenous eye health program is working to improve access to sight-saving procedures for people living in remote areas of Central Australia and the Barkley region.

“To date, we have supported more than 400 sight-saving surgeries with our partners in the Central Australian Eye Health Program.”

Preparations for the eye intensive are now full swing. The Foundation’s Angus Thornton is continuing a schedule of community visits to confirm surgeries with the patients.

“We have identified 25 cataract patients from 10 remote communities as far away as Lake Nash (a nine hour drive) to have their sight restored,” says Thornton. “A further 25 surgery slots will be filled by people from 14 of the town camps around Alice Springs.”

“Visiting the patients in their communities helps break down any barriers to surgery. We explain what the procedure is. Myths are debunked. We talk about what the outcomes will be. We explain the support that will be provided - transport, accommodation and meals.

“It also helps us identify people who have not received surgery because they have moved around a bit. We are going the extra mile to make sure that people who need the surgery receive it. Some have been on the waiting list for up to four years.”

This is the tenth eye intensive conducted through the Central Australian Eye Health Program since 2007. Program partners include The Fred Hollows Foundation, the Federal Government, the Northern Territory Government, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Anyinginyi Health Aboriginal Corporation and The Eye Foundation.