Our work | The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ

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What we do

The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ works in the Pacific Islands and Timor-Leste where 4 out of 5 people who are blind don't need to be.

Ending avoidable blindness

Like Fred, we provide doctors and nurses with the skills and tools they need to restore sight in their own communities.

Training eye health workers

Every year we restore sight and independence to thousands of people.

Providing eye health services

Our ultimate goal is to put ourselves out of a job. We develop and support local leaders who are passionate about eye health in their own communities.

Developing local leaders

The Fred Hollows Foundation was established 20 years ago to carry on Fred’s sight-restoring work after he passed away. Today, The Foundation is still working tirelessly to make his vision a reality.

Keeping Fred's dream alive

Research

The Foundation’s research program has contributed to improving the quality and accessibility of eye care in developing countries.

Eye health services: quality and access

The Foundation regularly undertakes assessments of the scale and type of problem developing countries are facing in terms of avoidable blindness and low vision.

Prevalence of blindness and low vision, and level of services available

The Foundation has made it a research priority to look at ways of making good quality, appropriate spectacles accessible and affordable in low-resource countries in a manner that can be self-sustaining.

Refractive error, presbyopia, and spectacle services

Success stories

Born with cataracts, H'Nhi's mother was worried for her daughter's future.

H'Nhi

Just one day before dangerous floodwaters rose around her home in Fiji, Francis regained her sight.

Francis

For ten long years, Eseple relied on her memory to visualise the world around her.

Eseple

Adam is a young father who was desperately in need of sight-restoring surgery.

Adam

Seven-year-old Satesh was born with cataracts in both eyes and was nearly blind when we met him.

Satesh

Thanks to her sight-restoring operation, Deonisia has regained her independence and is able to see her family again after nine years.

Deonisia

18-year-old Skolastika can now live life to the full – playing basketball with her friends, going to school and helping her family on the farm – thanks to our generous supporters throughout New Zealand.

Skolastika

Platini and his mum share a giggle. Platini's future has now opened up in front of him. Photo: Michael Bradley

Platini

Countries

Fiji is the home of the Pacific Eye Institute, the first dedicated eye health training facility in the Pacific, providing international recognised postgraduate courses in eye care to nurses and doctors.

Fiji

Since 2005, The Foundation has worked in close partnership with the government of Timor-Leste to provide vital eye health services for the nation’s one million inhabitants, and to develop and implement a national eye health strategy.

Timor-Leste

Patients waiting outside the operating theatre for their cataract surgery. Image: Lisa Crandall / ImageMe

Papua New Guinea

The original home of the Pacific Eye Institute, The Foundation has long standing and effective programs established in the Solomon Islands including several local leaders who advocate for eye health in the nation.

Solomon Islands

With a population close to 200,000 and no local ophthalmologist, eye health is in great need of prioritisation in Samoa.

Samoa

The Fred Hollows Foundation has been working in Vanuatu for over 10 years and has overseen the training of eye nurses and a doctor for the island nation. Image: Ben Bohane

Vanuatu

Tonga has a significant diabetes problem, of which 80% was undiagnosed in a survey undertaken in 2002. An eye health worker worried that her country was heading for a “blind population” due to poorly managed nature of the disease.

Tonga

A survey conducted by The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ found that cataract was the dominant cause of blindness, and cataracts and uncorrected refractive error were responsible for almost all cases of low vision in the Cook Islands.

Cook Islands

Kiribati’s population of around 100,000 is currently being served by a single eye nurse who staffs a small clinic for two days a week.

Kiribati

The Foundation is developing a plan with the Ministry of Health to train two eye health workers to set up an eye health service for Tuvalu.

Tuvalu

The Foundation has trained two nurse aids for two of the three atolls, and plans to have a nurse aid graduate to send to the remaining atoll to provide primary eye care and health promotion services for Tokelau.

Tokelau

Niue is a small island nation that relies on visiting teams to provide eye health service to its small population.

Niue

Nauru is too small to sustain an independent eye health service on its own, but will benefit from eye health workers who can provide primary eye care service and health promotion on the island.

Nauru

Born with cataracts, H'Nhi's mother was worried for her daughter's future.

H'Nhi

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The Fred Hollows Foundation

Donation Line: 0800 227 229