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Why Sight Matters

Ending Avoidable Blindness 

We believe that everybody – no matter who they are or where they live – has a right to sight. That means high quality, affordable and accessible eye care for people living in developing countries, who might otherwise be left behind. Because sight matters. It matters to the quality of a person’s life. It matters to their livelihood and to the wellbeing of their family. And it matters to the growth and development of their community.

 

Sight matters because it impacts a person’s ability to communicate and interact with the world around them. 

 

Sight affects a person’s ability to learn, to access economic opportunities, and to live a life of independence. This holds true especially for people living in developing countries, where communities are ill-equipped to care for those living with blindness or vision impairment. 

 

People who have lost their sight live meaningful lives – especially  those who live in countries with advanced health care systems and support services. In many developing countries, measures aren’t set in place to allow people with vision impairment to live rich and fulfilling lives due to a lack of resources.  

 

There are 36 million people around the world who are blind and 217 million with moderate to severe visual impairment. Almost 90% of them live in low and middle-income countries.

 

But the good news is that four out of five people who are blind don’t need to be  – this means we can do something to prevent it, treat it or manage it.

 

Even better news is that we know how to fix this. We’ve been working to restore sight since 1992, when our founder – Professor Fred Hollows – set us our mission to end avoidable blindness. We’ve got the strategy, the tools and the partners to make this happen. But this is a global challenge, and if we are to meet it, we will need a diverse, world-wide coalition of change-makers to join us.

 

“Every eye is an eye. When you are doing surgery there, that is just as important as if you were doing eye surgery on the Prime Minister or King.”

- Fred Hollows

 

Imagine being blind simply because of your circumstance. It’s almost unthinkable, yet millions of people around the world are suffering from this exact fate.


 
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The impact of restoring sight to all these people goes beyond treating blindness.

 

In research we’ve undertaken, we discovered that alleviating blindness is an effective way of easing poverty in the developing world.

 

With good vision, children can go to school, teenagers can pursue higher education, adults can work, and families can raise children. People can also start businesses, make art, take part in commerce, science, technology or go into medicine and restore sight themselves.

 

Ending avoidable blindness improves the economy, equality, skills and development of a country, while reducing its financial and social burden. For every $AU1 invested in eye health there’s at least a $AU4 return to the economy.

 

If more people can see then more people get the opportunity to be productive, take part in economic activities, and live life on their terms.

 

And that’s why sight matters.

The Fred Hollows Foundation-Who We Are

What drives the Fred Hollows Foundation? Watch to find out.
 

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The Fred Hollows Foundation (USA) is a registered 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organisation, EIN: 82-2851329

Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

The Fred Hollows Foundation is a member of The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) and is compliant with the ACFID code of conduct.

The Fred Hollows Foundation has safeguards and policies that guide its work.

All content © 2020 The Fred Hollows Foundation. All rights reserved. ABN 46 070 556 642


The Fred Hollows Foundation (USA) is a registered 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organisation, EIN: 82-2851329

Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

The Fred Hollows Foundation USA has attained the Platinum Seal of Transparency on GuideStar.

The Fred Hollows Foundation has safeguards and policies that guide its work.

All content © 2020 The Fred Hollows Foundation. All rights reserved. ABN 46 070 556 642