Of the 300,000 people living with blindness in Kenya, approximately 43% are affected by cataract, with an added annual incidence of more than 14,500 new cases. Trachoma ranks second to cataract as the main cause of avoidable blindness in Kenya. Of the 18 districts where trachoma is endemic, 11 are found in the Rift Valley Province. 

Eye health services are currently only available in a few major centres throughout Kenya.

In 2002 The Fred Hollows Foundation commenced a return to the Eastern Africa region. The program has initially focused its efforts in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya, the largest province in Kenya, where Trachoma is endemic. 

The aim of the program is to develop a cost-sustainable model for blindness prevention. It is anticipated that this model may be able to be replicated throughout Eastern Africa in the future. 

The long-term goal of the program is to assist in building the capacity of existing services so that the public health systems are able to deal with the backlog and incidence of people needing treatment for cataract blindness.

> Find out more about the program.

Fred Hollows Eastern Africa
Address: PO Box 8683-00200, Nairobi, Kenya
Phone: + 25 4206 00618 or + 25 4206 01204
Fax:+ 25 4206 06923
Email: fredhollows-ea@hollows.or.ke