When was fred hollows born

As a consultant to the World Health Organization between and , he undertook surveys of eye health in each of these countries. He identified strongly with Eritrea in its war of liberation against Ethiopia, and was impressed by the underground hospital and medical manufacturing plants in the war-torn country. To counter the extortionate prices of Western manufacturers, he began to raise funds to establish lens factories in Eritrea, Vietnam, and Nepal.

He established the Fred Hollows Foundation in to continue the strategies he had developed: to transfer technologies to disadvantaged communities, enabling them to use existing skills and capabilities to create lasting improvements in eye care. In he was appointed AC; he was promoted to professor the following year. A lover of the Australian and New Zealand bush, Hollows was a voracious reader of poetry and history, and a keen chess player.

Preferring to avoid bureaucracy and deal with problems and people directly, he was prepared to circumvent rules and regulations when he considered a cause justified direct action.

Although believing strongly in social justice and equality, he spoke against popular causes which he saw as defying available evidence. Diagnosed with metastatic renal cancer in , Hollows died on 10 February in his home at Randwick. He was survived by his wife, a son and daughter from his first marriage, and a son and four daughters from his second.

These lenses were used to treat cataract and significantly cut the cost of restoring sight. He sought to empower local communities by founding these factories in Nepal and Eritrea. The lenses were expensive when made in Australia, but cheap and accessible when made locally. Despite being diagnosed with cancer, Fred was determined to keep pushing for change in the countries he cared deeply about.

In the last few months of his life, he discharged himself from hospital to fly to Vietnam to train over Vietnamese eye specialists in modern surgery techniques. Fred and Gabi set up The Fred Hollows Foundation with the help of some friends to ensure his work would continue into the future. Fred died on 10 February and was given a state funeral.

He had asked to be buried in Bourke where he had a great affinity with the people and the land. The Fred Hollows Foundation now works in more than 25 countries and has restored sight to over two and a half million people worldwide. Fred's work continues very much in the way it started: by just getting on with it.

The Foundation trains doctors, nurses and healthcare workers, distributes antibiotics, raises money for much needed equipment and medical facilities and performs eye operations exactly like the ones Fred did more than 30 years ago. When someone's sight is restored, it gives people the chance for a better life.

They're able to work, go to school and provide for their families. Fred believed that everyone, no matter whether they were rich or poor, had the right to affordable eye care.

Fred was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in He grew up in Palmerston North. He initially trained to become a minister but after taking a summer holiday job at a mental health facility he began to think differently. Fred was skilled in science and was offered a place to study medicine.

After he graduated he began assisting eye surgeons. He became so interested in eye surgery that he moved to the United Kingdom to specialise in ophthalmology.

Sir Ed was on a test run for Everest, backpacking up the Tasman Glacier carrying a pack that weighed more than 32 kilograms. I handed my pack over and saw his legs buckle slightly at the knees. In Fred treated two elderly Indigenous Australians from Wattie Creek in the Northern Territory, who then invited him to visit their camp.

He was shocked by the poor state of health — especially eye health — and found it hard to comprehend people were living in these conditions in a developed country like Australia. Especially concerning was the large number of people suffering from trachoma, a blinding disease rarely found in the developed world. When Fred visited Bourke a township km from Sydney he found the same awful conditions, and he became inspired to fight for improved access to eye health and living conditions for those who need it most.

In the early 70's Gabi was training as an orthoptist when she first met Fred. Not long after, they worked together on the National Trachoma and Eye Health Program and visited more than Indigenous communities in outback Australia.