Press Release : More than one million treated for the first time as CEO steps down
The Fred Hollows Foundation has delivered more than one million eye operations and treatments in 2016, a record result for a single year in its 25-year history.
The record 1,004,975 eye operations and treatments in 2016 is a 13 per cent increase on the previous year, when The Foundation performed 890,066 eye operations and treatments.
Chief Executive Officer Brian Doolan also announced he will be stepping down at the end of this year after more than 12 years in the role. “2016 has been the biggest year on record for The Fred Hollows Foundation,” Mr Doolan said.
“Performing one million eye operations and treatments in a single year is an important milestone and one I am incredibly proud of.
“It has been an honour to lead The Fred Hollows Foundation and work with Gabi Hollows, our Board of Directors and the wonderful staff in more than 25 countries to keep Fred’s vision alive. We are now so much closer to our goal of ending avoidable blindness.”
Founding Director of The Fred Hollows Foundation, Gabi Hollows AO said: “Fred would never have imagined The Foundation would grow to achieve so much and transform the lives of so many millions of people in the world’s poorest communities. I sincerely thank Brian for all his work leading the massive growth of The Foundation’s program for more than a decade.”
In 2016 The Fred Hollows Foundation achieved:
- More than one million eye operation and treatments;
- More than three million people screened;
- 78,450 people trained including specialist eye surgeons and nurses, community health workers and teachers;
- 120 medical facilities built, renovated or equipped;
- $4.4 million of medical equipment and infrastructure provided;
- More than 2.9 million school children and community members educated in eye health;
- Eye health services provided to almost 12,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through The Foundation’s Indigenous Australia Programme.
Chair of The Fred Hollows Foundation, The Hon. John Brumby AO highlighted the extraordinary growth in treatments delivered over the past 12 years with Brian Doolan at the helm of the organisation.
“With Brian’s leadership, The Fred Hollows Foundation has grown from a small charity to a genuinely international development organisation, improving the lives of tens of millions of people each year,” Mr Brumby
said.
“It has grown to become an Australian success story, taking the work of Aussie icon Fred Hollows to more than 25 countries around the world. “Each year more than 160,000 supporters in Australia power our work. We are a mass movement of everyday Australians, committed to ending avoidable blindness.”
The Board of Directors of The Fred Hollows Foundation will undertake a recruitment process in the coming months to identify a replacement CEO.
See the Foundation’s 2016 Annual Report : http://www.hollows.org/au/annual-report-2016
