9 out of 10 people who are blind don't need to be
Their condition is preventable or treatable. In developing countries, 9 out of 10 people who are blind don’t need to be. Eye diseases like cataract, trachoma and diabetic retinopathy can lead to blindness when, in fact they're either treatable or preventable.
Our mission is to put an end to this. To achieve this, we are focusing on these four key areas:
👁️ Restoring and preserving sight.
📚Training and supporting eye doctors and nurses.
🏥 Strengthening local health systems.
🔬Driving innovation and research.
The driving force behind our work. Imagine being blind purely because of circumstance. It’s almost unthinkable, yet millions of people around the world are suffering from this exact fate.
Ending avoidable blindness
"One of the great joys of my life is having been part of the training of Sanduk Ruit and his training others." - Fred Hollows
The Founder of The Fred Hollows Foundation, Prof. Fred Hollows believed in empowering people. That’s why we invest in training a range of people from community health workers to surgeons. Building local skills has always, and will always, be at the heart of our work.
Training
Fred believed that training and empowering local people was the key to sustainable change. The Foundation trains doctors, nurses and health care workers so they can recognise, diagnose, refer and treat eye problems in their communities.
Doorstep diagnosis
Community health workers are a vital link between patients and eye health services. Trained by The Foundation, they visit communities, diagnosing a range of medical conditions and referring people to medical clinics, hospitals and doctors. Performing initial consultations like these is essential, because potentially damaging eye health issues are identified before they become critical.
Fred’s passion for teaching
Fred was an advocate of hands on learning. He firmly believed there should always be three people in a room: a teacher, a student and a patient. Whether it was in an operating theatre in Sydney or Hanoi, Fred took great delight in seeing the moment of understanding in his students’ eyes.
The last lesson
Despite being very ill with cancer, Fred discharged himself from hospital in July 1992 to fly to Hanoi. There he wanted to fulfil his promise to train over 300 Vietnamese eye specialists in modern eye surgery techniques.
WHAT IMPACT CAN YOUR DONATION BRING?
Blindness and vision impairment is a health issue, and related to a person's well-being, quality of life and development opportunities. The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that a fly-in-fly-out model is not the best way to develop a place’s eye health care. Our vision is to build sustainable, good quality and affordable eye care in remote areas of the world.
Your donation will be used to:
- Train surgeons or eye health workers
- Provide medical equipment
- Organize eye screening camps in remote areas
- Raise awareness of eye health to the public
- Invest in innovation and research
Together, we can do this
We know how to help, but there’s a lot of work still to be done across the world. Eliminating avoidable blindness can be achieved – with the help of our partners and, most importantly, you, our incredible supporters.
The Fred Hollows Foundation's work will help build the local capacity of eye health in remote areas. Doctors, nurses and community eye care staff can identify, diagnose, refer and treat various eye diseases on time in the community.
The Fred Hollows Foundation believes that a fly-in-fly-out model is not the best way to develop a place’s eye health care. Our aim is to build a sustainable eye health workforce in remote areas to help people have their sight restored.
Thank you very much for your donation! Monthly donation receipts will be mailed to your mailing address every April. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.