Our work in Myanmar
In Myanmar, more than 170,000 people aged 50 or over are blind and almost 25,000 school children are blind. It is also estimated that 32% of people aged over 50 are living with visual impairment.
Some 87% of avoidable blindness in Myanmar is caused by cataract, glaucoma, trachoma and diabetic retinopathy. For people aged 50 years and older, cataract remains the leading cause of blindness followed by glaucoma.
The Fred Hollows Foundation started working in Myanmar in 2012. Since then more than 117,000 people have accessed comprehensive eye care services in the country where women represent 55% of the total number of patients.
The Foundation is currently working in Shan State and Ayeyarwady, Magway and Tanintharyi regions.
The Foundation and its partners are focusing on tackling cataract and trachoma by strengthening leadership and governance mechanisms, establishing a comprehensive eye care system and delivering quality and accessible eyecare services and building the capacity of ophthalmology workforce.
By adopting a sustainable, gender and equity-centred approach, The Foundation is working to eliminate of avoidable blindness in the country.
The Myanmar program receives support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
In 2023, The Foundation and its partners made great progress in key strategic areas in South Asia and the Middle East:
1,035,570
People screened.
137,047
Eye operations and treatments performed including cataract operations, surgeries to treat trachoma, diabetic retinopathy treatments and other sight saving or improving interventions.
44,732
Pairs of glasses distributed.
3,292
People trained including community health workers, surgeons, clinic support staff and teachers.
134,786
School children and community members educated in eye health and sanitation.
450
Facilities built, equipped or renovated.
The countries in South Asia and the Middle East that The Foundation works in are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Palestine, Jordan and Afghanistan.