Fred's Work

Frederick Hollows was born on 9 April 1929 in Dunedin, New Zealand to Joseph and Clarice (Marshall) Hollows.

Fred Hollows was one of four children, his brothers being Colin, John and Maurice. Fred was named for his maternal grandfather, Frederick Cossom Marshall. 

Fred came from a working class family, who instilled a sense of justice in him from the early days. Fred’s family lived in Dunedin for the first seven years of his life. While there, he attended one year of formal primary schooling at North East Valley Primary School before moving to Palmerston North Boys' High School when he was 13. At school he joined several clubs and played trumpet in the band.

Fred initially attended Bible College in Dunedin, dabbling with the idea of joining the clergy. After a short time in a seminary, Fred discovered he wasn't cut out to be a clergyman. Instead, he enrolled at medical school at Otago University in New Zealand, where he decided to become an 'eye doctor' - a trade he described as "good work".

Fred always had a passion for mountain climbing and studying at Otago University enabled him to make use of the spectacular mountainous backdrop. He often spent time climbing with friends on and around Mt Cook, New Zealand's highest peak. 

For him the mountain "put things into perspective - risks and skills, life and death, gives you the measure of problems and people."

In 1961, Fred moved to Moorfields in the United Kingdom to study ophthalmology. He then spent three years working as an Ophthalmic Registrar and Epidemiology in Cardiff in Wales.

In 1965, Fred moved to Australia to become Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of New South Wales, (UNSW) in Sydney. 

From 1965-1992, Fred chaired the ophthalmology division overseeing the teaching departments at the University of New South Wales as well as the Prince of Wales and Prince Henry hospitals. 

It was during his time at the Prince of Wales Hospital that Fred performed his first cataract operation at a small eye unit he set up in 1965.

Fred was married twice: in 1958 to Mary Skiller, who died in 1975, and in 1980 to Gabi O'Sullivan.

Fred first visited isolated New South Wales towns and stations and Aboriginal communities in Australia in the 1960s and was shocked by the deplorable standards of eye health.

"It was like something out of the medical history books," he said, "eye diseases of a kind and degree that hadn't been seen in western society for generations! The neglect this implied, the suffering and wasted quality of human life were appalling."

He became especially concerned with the high number of Aborigines who had eye defects, particularly trachoma.

In the 1970s Fred began his work with Aboriginal communities in Australia. He helped establish the Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, Sydney, in 1971 and was instrumental in the establishment of other Aboriginal Medical Services throughout Australia.

During this time, Fred also dedicated three years to visiting Indigenous communities in rural Australia with a team of colleagues to survey and provide eye care services. The results were published and in the late 1970's, with funding from the Australian Government and The Royal Australian and New Zealand college of Ophthalmologists, the ground-breaking The National Trachoma and Eye Health Program (NTEHP) was commenced.

The NTEHP set out to eliminate trachoma and other eye conditions in rural and remote communities and, for the first time, record the status of eye health in rural Australia.

From 1976-1978, over 465 communities were visited, 100,000 people screened, 27,000 people treated for trachoma and 1,000 operations performed. As a result of the program, Fred Hollows championed the treatment of trachoma and other eye diseases, which were prevalent among Aboriginal people.

Fred received many awards that recognised his dedication and determination.

In 1981, Fred received an Advance Australia Award, but was appalled at what he called blatant government disinterest in eye care for Aboriginal people, so refused to accept the Order of Australia. Nonetheless, he became an Australian citizen in 1989.

In 1990, Fred was given a Human Rights Medal and named Australian of the Year, and awarded Humanist of the Year in 1991.

In further recognition of Fred's 'outstanding contribution and achievement' to Indigenous health in Australia, in mid 2004, Fred Hollows was entered into the 'Hall of Fame' the inaugural New South Wales Aboriginal Health Awards. Gabi Hollows received the award on his behalf.

A trip to war-torn Eritrea in 1985 had a huge impact on Fred, sending him on a path that would lead to the establishment of The Fred Hollows Foundation and unprecedented advancements in cataract surgery in the developing world.

In 1985, Fred worked as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) visiting Nepal, Burma, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh on short-term assignments.

After attending a conference in Egypt, Fred made his first visit to war-torn Eritrea in 1987. While there, Fred saw first hand the effects the war was having on medical services and supplies in Eritrea. An underground hospital and medical manufacturing factories had been set up in the mountains, while the war raged around them.

Fred realized that people in developing countries, like Nepal and Eritrea, were suffering from blindness because of a lack of basic medical resources. It was there that Fred decided to work towards reducing the cost of eye health care and treatment in developing countries.

"Fred loved Eritrea with a passion. He first visited in 1987 when Eritrea was still fighting for its independence. To Fred's never ending amazement, he found a country of determined, committed and innovative people. They were manufacturing medical supplies and running a hospital underground in the mountains, while bombs fell around.

Fred decided then and there, that if they could do that underground, they could make intraocular lenses (IOLs) underground too, if they had to. Cataracts were the most common form of blindness in the country, caused in part by poor nutrition and significantly by the extraordinary brilliant light of this desert country all year around. That was the beginning of Fred's campaign to build a lens factory in Eritrea." Gabi Hollows

In 1991, a year after Fred's second trip to Eritrea, he received honorary citizenship in Eritrea. Fred also visited Nepal and Vietnam.

In 1992, Fred and Gabi Hollows decided to set up The Fred Hollows Foundation to continue Fred's work. Despite having been diagnosed with cancer in 1988 and knowing he didn't have much longer to live, Fred started raising money to build an intraocular lens (IOL) factory in Eritrea, so IOLs could become more accessible to people who were cataract blind.

"By significantly increasing the supply of affordable high quality IOLs to developing countries, we will reduce one of the barriers to disadvantaged people having their sight restored."

At the time, treating cataract blindness was prohibitively expensive. An intraocular lens (IOL) which is used to replace the damaged lens of the eye in cataract surgery cost up to USD$100. Mystique also surrounded the idea of modern IOL implant surgery, putting it into the league of open-heart surgery or organ transplant surgery.

Fred wanted to lower the cost of IOLs, for under US$10 each. His aim was make IOL implant surgery safe, affordable and more widely available for people in developing countries.

This proved difficult as the multinational IOL manufacturers refused to drop their prices that low.

In true Fred style, he decided The Foundation would make its own.

In addition, Fred also wanted to develop robust and effective microscopes and YAG lasers to help improve cataract surgery in developing countries. In both cases, Fred and The Foundation were able to find Australian companies interested in developing low cost, durable, portable and robust equipment.

A year after he died, Fred's dream came true. In 1994, The Fred Hollows Foundation opened modern intraocular lens manufacturing laboratories in both Kathmandu (Nepal) and Asmara (Eritrea).

Since opening, the laboratories have produced more than three million lens for local and export use. Today, the Fred Hollows IOL Laboratories are independently owned and continue to produce high quality low cost IOLs which are exported worldwide.

This was the start of Fred's dream.

Today, The Foundation International is ensuring Fred's work lives on delivering results and offering hope, dignity and opportunity.