Cataract patients in Rwanda. Credit: Fred Hollows Foundation

A report from the Fred Hollows Foundation shows the return on investment (ROI) for eye disease interventions are among the highest of any disease modelled on similar investment scenarios. On average, cataract surgery returns US$20.50 for every dollar spent while refractive error treatments return US$10.80 for myopia and US$8 for presbyopia.

Armed with this new, compelling evidence, the Foundation is calling for urgent collective action across government, non-government, philanthropy and the private sector to prioritise health system investments to reach the World Health Assembly’s global eyecare targets by 2030.

The ROI modelling, undertaken in collaboration with Victoria University’s Institute for Strategic Economic Studies in Melbourne, looked solely at economic returns, including increased labour force participation and productivity and improved education and learning. It included 19 countries where the Fred Hollows Foundation is active.