Fred Hollows and his cataract surgery legacy

Tweet

There have been a couple of discussions/comments lately about cataract removal and I just had to take the opportunity to tell you about a remarkable New Zealand/Australian, Fred Hollows, a pioneering eye surgeon and humanitarian best known for restoring sight to thousands of people through cataract surgery. Born in 1929, he became especially committed to improving eye health among Aboriginal and underserved communities. Hollows focused on treating cataract blindness, concentrating firstly on Australian indigenous people who had no access to eye health. He organised teams of nurses and colleagues, and was able to treat a patient every 10-20 minutes. This efficiency was crucial in remote and low-resource settings, where access to healthcare was limited. Over his career, he helped train hundreds of doctors, nurses, and eye health workers across countries such as Eritrea, Nepal, and Vietnam. Part of his legacy involved training local people to carry on his work. Fred died of cancer in 1993, just shy of his 64th birthday. The Fred Hollows Foundation continues his marvellous work. My favourite memory of him was a moment in a documentary which a toothless Papuan had the bandages removed from his eyes, gave the most enormous smile and said something in his native language. Fred smiles too and asks ‘what did he say? What did he say?’ The photo has nothing to do with the post except for being a positive, happy image.