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Famous ophthalmologists: 2
Australia  (1995 SG1554 ) Fred Hollows.

Fred Hollows was born Frederick Cossom Hollows in Dunedin, New Zealand. After his medical training he moved to Australia and worked as an ophthalmologist. He was a firm socialist from a young age. In 1976 he launched a three year National Trachoma Program. After witnessing a high incidence of blindness amongst the Aborigines in the outbreak from trachoma. All together the programme examined 105,000 people (including 68,000 Aboriginal people), treated 27,000 patients and performed 1,000 operations. In the late 1980s he set up eye care programme in developing countries primarily targeting cataract which is a major cause of blindness. At the time, intraocular lens was a luxury for patients in developing countries. He set up factories in Vietnam and Eritrea to make cheap lenses locally and trained surgeons to insert lenses. Although he did not discover any new diseases or invent any new instruments. He helped tens of thousands of patients in developing countries to regain vision. 

He died of renal cancer in 1993 but his Foundation continues to carry out valuable work in developing countries. He appeared in the stamp issued by Australia in 1995 to honour famous Australian doctors.

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