Macular Disease Foundation (MDFA) has celebrated 25 years of changing the landscape of macular disease care in Australia.

Australia

At an event hosted at the New South Wales State Library in late March, supporters, patients, carers and advocates gathered to mark the significant milestone and impressive achievements of this small but highly effective national organisation.

The celebration commenced with a powerful video featuring the prominent British actress Dame Judi Dench, along with macular disease community members and their families, speaking about the impact the disease has had on their quality of life and the hope that treatment has given them.

At the heart of the occasion was a landmark oration, named in honour of the Foundation’s patron, Ita Buttrose AC OBE, delivered by Dr Paul Beaumont AM, the Sydney-based ophthalmologist and MDFA founder.

FROM STORAGE ROOM TO NATIONAL MOVEMENT Dr Beaumont painted a stark picture of what macular disease care looked like before the Foundation’s establishment. Fewer than 2% of Australians had any awareness of the condition. Patients were handed a diagnosis with no treatment, no education, and no support – left, as Dr Beaumont put it, “isolated with a fear of total black blindness”.

The event, which also featured a response from Ms Buttrose and an expert panel discussion, was introduced by MDFA Chief Executive Officer Dr Kathy Chapman, who framed the anniversary as a celebration of collective purpose.

“If there’s one thread that weaves through our work across a quarter of a century, it’s community,” Dr Chapman told the audience. “It is people and the collective strength of individuals who believe in our mission, and who are determined to make a difference and save sight.”

The catalyst for change came not from a boardroom but from a patient. A determined woman – described by Dr Beaumont as “strong, extraordinary, capable” – approached him with a simple proposal to provide support for people with a macular disease beyond the consulting room. She had already engaged a solicitor and drafted a constitution. The Foundation needed to exist, she said, because the gap in care was too great.

THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING Dr Beaumont opened the oration by acknowledging those living with macular disease before turning to the formative experience that has defined his entire medical philosophy: a chance encounter under the mentorship of the late Professor Fred Hollows.

“I realised immediately there wasn’t a choice,” Dr Beaumont said. “It wasn’t something I could dismiss. I didn’t know if we could succeed, but we certainly had to try.”

“I was a young doctor working under the late Prof Fred Hollows,” Dr Beaumont recalled, “and

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