Specsavers has been proud to support The Fred Hollows Foundation and its Indigenous Australia Program since 2011. Right now, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are three times more likely to go blind than other Australians simply because the health system is not meeting their needs. But it doesn’t have to be that way and we can all do something about it.
Every year The Fred Hollows Foundation is helping to close the gap in eye health by ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can access high quality, culturally safe and patient centric eye care, while delivering life changing surgery and treatment to people in remote communities across Australia.
Since 2011, Specsavers has donated more than $11 million to The Fred Hollows Foundation to help fund vital projects that improve the delivery of eye health services, strengthen health systems, and build a workforce for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to help end avoidable blindness.
Right here in WA, The Fred Hollows Foundation is able to support the Lions Outback Vision initiative.
Lions Outback Vision works to prevent avoidable blindness and restore sight to people by developing and implementing innovative and sustainable models of quality specialist eye health services to regional, remote and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Western Australia. Our donations support the operations of the Lions Outback Vision Van, a diabetic retinopathy screening program, and a full-time ophthalmologist. The Foundation’s work with Lions Outback Vision has resulted in a vast improvement in delivery of care and patient pathways across the state, which in turn has increased the number of patients receiving care.
Photos:
1: Fred Hollows examines the eye of Tran Van Giap in Hanoi in 1992. Fred helped restore his sight, organising an operation performed by Dr Ruit. Giap went on to do well at school and university, and is now a teacher. Photo: Michael Amendolia. Courtesy: The Fred Hollows Foundation.
2: Fred Hollows inspects an Indigenous Australian’s eye. Photo: Stephen Ellison. Courtesy: The Fred Hollows Foundation.
3: Dr Kristopher Rallah-Baker examining a 69-year-old Yolngu man, Uncle Jimmy. Photographer: Michael Amendolia . Courtesy: The Fred Hollows Foundation