What are the outcomes of Fred Hollows eye health care and work in the pacific?

It is a amazing what fred hollows has done in the Pacific with fixing
catract blindness and the facts show that for them selves. But What is even
  more amazing is the outcomes and the affects it has had on peoples lives a study showed in India found that a person who had their sight restored by cataract surgery was able to generate income at 1500 per cent return on the cost of that surgery, within the first year.Imagine if you able to see your children,
were a mother with 7 children and you got cataract blindness you wouldn’t be  your husband wouldn’t be able to work and would have to stay at home and look after the children. You would slowly move into poverty wouldn’t be able to put food on the table but Fred hollows was trying to fix this. The outcomes are amazing RIP Fred Hollows.





 

What eye health care does he and the foundation do?

The foundation mainly focus on cataract blindness because half of the global blindness is caused by cataracts – a clouding of the lens of the eye that can be treated by a simple surgical procedure – and the World Bank has identified cataract surgery as one of the most cost-effective of all public health interventions. They also tackle other causes of blindness, including trachoma and refractive error.

What challenges did they have to overcome to do eye health care in the pacific?

Fred and Dr Ruit (eye surgeon) had a shared vision of bringing modern eye health services to Nepal. They both knew that cataract blindness could be reversed with a relatively simple operation. The fundamental problem was that the tiny plastic lens (known as an IOL) needed to replace the cataract-damaged lens of the eye cost around $200 each, making cataract surgery much too expensive for people in the developing world .Fred lobbied the multi-national manufacturers to drop the price of IOLs but had no success. So in the early 1990s, Fred and Dr Ruit began working together towards building a world-class IOL manufacturing facility in Nepal. "They both pushed boundaries and demanded results and their combination was always going to give us an enduring and powerful legacy," says Gabi.*In 1994, one year after Fred passed away, the Fred Hollows IOL Laboratory at the Tilganga Eye Centre in Kathmandu began producing high quality, low-cost IOLs. Today, an IOL costs around $5.Since then, the laboratory has produced more than two million lenses and is one of six divisions within the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO) – a world class eye care hospital and one of The Foundation’s most valued partners. Dr Ruit is the Medical Director and is recognised worldwide as one of the giants of ophthalmology.

What are some causes of eye disease?

About 90 per cent of the world’s blind people live in developing countries. Malnutrition, inadequate health and education services, poor water quality and a lack of sanitation lead to a high rate of eye disease and a fixed cycle of poverty and blindness. The good news is that alleviating blindness is also as an effective way of alleviating poverty. A study in India found that a person who had their sight restored by cataract surgery was able to generate income at 1500 per cent return on the cost of that surgery, within the first year.

Are the patient’s mainly women or men?

Around two-thirds of the world’s blind people are women. This jaw dropping statistic is linked to poverty, domestic violence, limited educational opportunities and a lack of awareness of eye care services. Women are also less likely to get treatment because of  their husband or family often decides for them whether or not they can see an eye doctor .Plus women are not able to leave their household tasks and children.

children.

Why cataract blindness?

Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world .While it can be treated easily with simple surgery most of the people affected by it live in developing countries where eye health services are hard to access, costly or not available.

How can we help?

We can donate 25? And restore sight and help Fred's dream live on .Or if you want to fundraise hers some ideas:

Geoff Hoar is using his passion for golf as a way to raise money for their sight-restoring work.

Jason Leong spent 17 hours, 9 minutes and 42 seconds completing his second Coast to Coast race. And this year he endured this iconic New Zealand multisport event to raise funds so that 80 people could see.

Lauren Hollister, a student at Kristin College on Auckland's North Shore, walked the Great Walks of New Zealand to raise funds for the first eye clinic in Papua New Guinea's.