Pacific eye doctor never tires of restoring the gift of sight

JOYOUS MISSION: Dr John Szetu is director of the Pacific Eye Institute in Fiji, which trains Pacific doctors and nurses to do cataract operations.

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The broad, smiling face of John Szetu is often the first thing his patients have seen in years.

The Solomon Islands eye surgeon has restored the sight of more than 12,000 people in his 20-year career.

In doing so, he is continuing the legacy of Professor Fred Hollows, the Kiwi doctor who pioneered modern cataract surgery in developing countries with a groundbreaking, low-cost, 20-minute technique.

As director of the Pacific Eye Institute in Fiji, which has funding from the Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand, Dr Szetu trains doctors and nurses from across the Pacific to carry on the work.

"Some of our patients have been blind because of cataracts for three, four or even five years, and they are completely incapacitated.

"Life is miserable for them and their families, they are unable to work and that has an economic impact on the whole community."

About 65,000 people in the Pacific region are needlessly blind.

Since it began working in the Pacific in 2002, the foundation has trained clinicians from 11 nations. This Christmas it is asking New Zealanders to give a $25 "Miracle of Sight" donation to fund a cataract operation that will turn someone's life around.

Dr Szetu was one of the first indigenous doctors to work in the national eye health programme in the late 1980s.

Nine years ago, during the civil war, he was forced to flee his homeland with his family and seek asylum in Australia.

"I had to leave my clinic and everything I had worked for. It was very difficult to start again in another country," said the 50-year-old father of five.

Recruited by the Fred Hollows Foundation, he was sent to Vanuatu to set up a national eye programme, before moving to the Pacific Eye Institute in Suva.

He steers clear of politics. "Fiji has had its own troubles, but the government has been very helpful and supportive of our work."

Having experienced political turmoil in his own country - and witnessed the devastating disruption to health services - he has deep empathy with doctors and nurses struggling to deliver services in less than ideal circumstances. Poverty, poor infrastructure and challenging terrain stops many of New Zealand's Pacific neighbours getting even the most basic healthcare.

He returns to the Solomons twice a year to do eye clinics.

The joy of giving back someone's sight never dims. Some patients are so excited when the bandages come off they start shouting and jumping around. Others are so overwhelmed to rejoin the world of light and colour, they go into shock.

"To help a blind person see again is magic, it's like a miracle."

For more information on the foundation, check out giveamiracle.co.nz

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