Country staff

Dr Rubina Gillani is a strong woman with a kind spirit. Her passion for The Foundation's program in Pakistan has meant many sacrifices and challenges, but her commitment to the program is borne out of her vision for the future, which she hopes will be free of avoidable blindness.

For this reason she sees sustainability as the most important aspect of The Foundation's work in the country she loves.

"Our biggest challenge is to remain a development organisation which does not just provide charity. As a development organisation we must continue our work towards sustainability within communities. This takes time but we want to see changes that are development focused. That is the only way it will work."

Dr Gillani is a medical doctor and public health specialist. Her role as Country Manager, which she started in 1998, means there is a lot of managerial work to do but Dr Gillani still sees herself as a 'field worker'.

"To be a Country Manager honestly means that you need to be a negotiator, you need to be a mentor, you need to be an architect, you need to be a fighter and a debater."

Dr Gillani spends half of her time in the office and the other half travelling extensively throughout Pakistan. Often she needs to travel up to twelve hours to get to a remote community. During this time she does most of her observing; of women and children and of the poverty apparent throughout the country.

The Foundation has been working with local blindness prevention agencies in Pakistan since 1997, such as The Pakistan Institute of Community Ophthalmology (PICO) and the Khyber Eye Foundation. In 1998 a situational analysis was undertaken by Dr Gillani to determine the prevalence of blindness in Pakistan.

The majority of Pakistan's 160 million people live in rural and remote areas with limited access to health services, including eye care facilities, which are predominantly based in urban centres. There is a wide gap between the rich and the poor in Pakistan.

"Reaching the population of Pakistan is not easy," said Dr Gillani. "It is also very hard to change attitudes. The Foundation has come out with a multi-pronged approach. We have trained the doctors, held eye clinics, used accredited facilities and introduced quality into the recipients perspective...That has been challenging."

The Foundation's program in Pakistan, the Pakistan-Australia District Eye Care Program, through funding from AusAID (the Australian government's agency for international development) commenced in 2002. The program operates in the four provinces of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and the North Western Frontier Province. Currently it is in its second phase (May 2007 to April 2012).

The main objective of the program is to increase the rate of modern cataract surgery and to provide access to affordable and quality eye care for the poorest of the poor. Training and supply of much needed equipment are two of the major issues which are continuing to be addressed; to date over 100 surgeons have been trained in modern cataract surgery.

The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce the number of people living with cataract blindness throughout the four provinces. More than 45,000 people have had their sight restored through the program.

In early 2003 the one millionth Fred Hollows intraocular lens was implanted into the eye of Zubaida Bibi, a Pakistani woman living in Lahore with her family of seven children.

"I can confidently claim that The Fred Hollows Foundation has revolutionised eye care in Pakistan," said Dr Gillani.

Dr Gillani is crucial to The Foundation's program. Without her determination, strength, knowledge and ability to 'get the job done', the success of the program so far would not have been possible.

Her commitment was evident when she turned down an offer to become Health Minister for the North Western Frontier Province. She is now an adviser to the government but can't leave The Foundation's program; she's too determined to make a difference in tackling unnecessary blindness and to ensure that in the future the problem doesn't persist.

In a male dominated society, Dr Gillani is taking a different approach to breaking through the barriers. "It's an ambitious project. I being a woman..." said Dr Gillani.

"Besides doing my job I feel that in a country like Pakistan where it is very different and conservative...I'm working towards reducing cataract blindness rates and am also working towards the cause of women."