Bid to improve Indigenous eye health

Indigenous Australians are being urged to get regular eye checks to reduce the high rate of cataracts in some Indigenous communities.

Indigenous Australians are being urged to get regular eye checks to reduce the high rate of cataracts in some Indigenous communities.

The Fred Hollows Foundation recently completed a pilot program in the New South Wales' town of Bourke, delivering sight restoring surgery to 200 Indigenous Australians.

The Foundation says cataracts that result in blindness are 12 times more common in Indigenous Australian adults, but surgery rates are seven times lower than the national average.

The Manager of The Foundation's Indigenous Australia Program, Jaki Adams-Barton spoke to Peggy Giakoumelos about the program.

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