Australia’s leading eye charity has joined forces with the national airline carrier to further its work on eliminating avoidable blindness. Passengers are now able to support The Fred Hollows Foundation by using their Qantas Frequent Flyer points.
“We’re very proud to be associated with such a great Australian company,“ said David Britton, The Foundation’s Public Affairs director.Qantas travellers can choose sight-restoring services that range from $25 for a cataract operation to $500 for an eye camp in Africa, and $1,500 to train an eye health nurse in Vietnam.
“If Qantas frequent flyers get behind this then it’s going to allow thousands more people to see,” said Mr Britton.
Over 32 million people worldwide are blind and yet four out of five don’t need to be.
The Foundation is an international development organisation inspired by the life and work of Professor Fred Hollows that operates in 19 countries, including Australia. It builds local eye health capacity, trains eye surgeons and health workers, provides medical equipment, establishes or upgrades eye health facilities, treats refractive error and enables surgery for patients with cataract, trachoma or diabetic retinopathy.
Since The Foundation was set up in 1992 it has helped restore sight to more than a million people.