Good vision leads to improved education, employment, gender equity, healthy ageing and economic productivity.
It results in a healthier, more productive workforce, better attendance and educational outcomes at school, greater participation in society, fewer injuries and lower dependence on the wider health and public health systems.
Yet eye health is too often overlooked when public health budgets are tight.
Research shows that, globally, nine out of 10 people do not need to be blind or vision impaired and the most common eye conditions – cataract and refractive error – can easily be prevented or treated through cost-effective interventions.
This is true in Africa and ending avoidable blindness in the region requires more than a business-as-usual approach – the eye health sector needs urgent action to unlock new investment from the private sector.
The Fred Hollows Foundation Eye Health Accelerator
We have joined forces with Villgro Africa in Nairobi to launch the world’s first accelerator dedicated exclusively to eye health innovation.
The Africa Eye Health Accelerator aims to help address resource constraints and gaps in service delivery by accelerating AI-assisted screening tools, low-cost portable diagnostic services, and community-based screening technologies that allow for eye care to be delivered closer to where people live.
Investing in the Eye Health Accelerator will help improve the lives of millions of people across Africa. It will help more children stay in school and more working-age adults earn a living. We invite investors who would like to make a significant improvement in the lives of those living in LMICs to contact The Fred Hollows Foundation.
A proven track record in eye health innovation in Africa
In 2018, The Fred Hollows Foundation launched the first-ever Development Impact Bond for health and shaped the future of eye health in West Africa.
The Cameroon Cataract Bond funded health care by mobilising public and private investors, global health supports, and eye care experts.
The project restored sight to almost 17,000 people, providing a blueprint for long-term investment in global eye health.
As a results-based contract, impact investors provided the upfront finance with donor organisations repaying their principal plus a return if the program achieved pre-defined social outcomes.
At the completion of the project, the Cameroon Cataract Bond achieved the following results:
- Quantity: Restoring sight to 16,800 people and delivering more than 450,000 consultations
- Quality: More than 70% of surgeries surpassed WHO-global standards, meaning the eye hospital could achieve scale, while maintaining quality.
- Equity: More than 40% of patients whose sight was restored were from the most marginalised in the community, thanks in large part to the outreach camps that provided free or subsidized surgeries to those most in need
- Gender: More than 60 percent of the patients were women and more than 60 percent of the ophthalmologists at the MICEI were women
- Financial: At the end of the project, the eye hospital had a positive EBITA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization – a financial metric which measures a company's operational profitability by excluding interest, taxes, and non-cash amortization expenses. It helps investors evaluate core performance and compare companies with different capital structures or tax rates), and full repayment to investors, plus an 8 percent return.
The Development Impact Bond was delivered through a consortium of outcome funders (The Fred Hollows Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, and Sightsavers), investors (DFC and NETRI Foundation), and implementers (Africa Eye Foundation and Magrabi ICO Cameroon Eye Institute), with Sagana serving as the Coordination Manager.
Investing in eye health delivers returns
Research by The Fred Hollows Foundation, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and the Seva Foundation shows that investment in eye health is one of the most cost-effective health interventions in low and middle-income countries.
The Value of Vision report illustrates that every dollar invested in eye health delivers a return of $28.
The report shows that investing in eye health leads to more opportunities in education, drives job creation and economic development, enables people to live longer, more fulfilling lives, and contribute to their families and communities.
Restoring someone’s sight has far-reaching benefits, such as fewer road accidents, fewer people living with depression and relieves people from unpaid caregiving duties.
The evidence is clear – investing in eye health can transform lives.
We know what to do and your support can help us scale innovation, transformative solutions to increase scale, efficiency and quality of eye care to improve the lives of millions.
