Meet Eritrea’s newest ophthalmologists

It’s been more than 30 years since Fred visited war-torn Eritrea and lamented the many people who were needlessly blind. Fred began plans to build an intraocular lens factory in Eritrea. Today, with your support, that factory makes affordable lens for cataract surgeries in Eritrea and around the world.

The Foundation remains the single largest partner supporting eye health service delivery in Eritrea. Our three areas of focus are to ensure trachoma is eliminated in Eritrea, cataract is effectively managed and an adequate and skilled workforce is available to deliver eye health services.



Last year, with the help of supporters like you, three proud Eritrean ophthalmologists completed their training in Nepal. Eritrea’s newest ophthalmologists are already making an impact – thanks to you.

Their graduation instantly doubled the number of eye surgeons in Eritrea from three to six, and brought new hope to Eritreans living with treatable eye diseases.

The new ophthalmologists are already transforming lives – with the ability to perform up to 2,000 sight-saving surgeries between them each year.

Help Africa’s Eye Health Workforce Crisis

This workforce was under-resourced for the needs of a growing and largely rural population, even before the pandemic. COVID-19 and civil unrest have slowed progress. A lack of eye care specialists remains the biggest barrier to eliminating avoidable blindness in Eritrea today.

COVID-19 has delayed vital training, further strained Africa’s weak health systems, and disrupted eye care delivery – especially to remote areas. It’s sadly taken the lives of many heroic eye health workers.

“Eye health has not been easy for people to access due to a lack of awareness. The Foundation has also been involved in creating awareness of free and affordable eye services closer to where people live.
 

There are just six ophthalmologists for 5 million Eritreans

The country was, and still is, heavily reliant on fly in, fly out ophthalmologists. Without urgent action to scale up and strengthen Africa’s eye health workforce, millions of children and adults could permanently lose their sight.

Fred knew that training and equipping local eye health teams was the best way to tackle the tragedy of avoidable blindness across Africa.



Your continued support means more ophthalmologists trained to restore sight to more people in Eritrea. One trained ophthalmologist can conduct up to 1000 surgeries a year. We have plans to train six more ophthalmologists by 2030.

Fred famously said: “Africa is one of reasons I became an ophthalmologist.”

He’d dreamed of visiting Africa since he was a boy. Later, as a medical student, Fred learned that removing a cataract was one of the most useful skills he could bring to the African people.

HELP KEEP FRED’s VISION ALIVE