Weeks after losing their long-time patron Sir Edmund Hillary, the Fred Hollows Foundation has launched its annual fundraising appeal with an All Black great stepping up to front it.

This year, Michael Jones fronts the campaign to raise money to fight blindness in the Pacific.

Jones presented the inaugural Sir Edmund Hillary Pacific Eye Scholarship in a ceremony in Auckland today as part of the official launch.

Dr John Szetu, Director of the Pacific Eye Institute in Suva, Fiji, will spend a month studying at the Foundation's research centre in Kathmandu, Nepal as part of the scholarship.

Jones said he was saddened to learn there are 80,000 blind people in the Pacific Islands, and 70 per cent could be cured with a 20 minute operation that can cost as little as 25.

"I am shocked by the numbers of blind in the Pacific. It is essential that we invest in Pacific medical leaders so that they can restore sight to our Pacific brothers and sisters."