Sight restored in time for Christmas

Fred Hollows Foundation NZ

A WHOLE NEW WORLD: Fiji's Deonisa Yagose sees her niece for the first time in nine years after having a sight-restoring cataract operation thanks to a New Zealand charity.

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Around 400 people in Fiji's Ovalau have just received, thanks to a New Zealand charity, their best ever Christmas present - their sight has been restored after a decade.

"The people of Ovalau have no eye services on their island and have been waiting for a surgical eye team for a long time," says ophthalmologist John Szetu who headed up a team of Fred Hollows Foundation NZ trained eye professionals.

"To finally have a team visit the island is a significant milestone and the perfect Christmas gift."

He said they were able to help a large proportion of the people of Ovalau.

"However, there is still more to be done and I hope to return there next year."

A Solomon Islander, Dr Szetu, was supported by a team eye care nurses, which included individuals from Niue, Samoa and the Solomons, as well as Fiji. 

The team carried out over 40 sight-saving operations, just in time for Christmas, as well as treating a large number of potentially blinding eye infections and providing low cost spectacles to the community.

Cataract blindness is the most prevalent cause of blindness in the Pacific, yet sight can be instantly restored in a straightforward operation that takes roughly 20 minutes and can cost as little as $25 in some countries.

Carmel Williams of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ says that in order to reduce blindness in the Pacific, it is vital that more Pacific eye care professionals are trained to carry out sight restoring cataract surgery, and to service the region's need for basic eye care.   

"The Pacific region, including Fiji, has a severe shortage of Pacific eye care workers," says Ms Williams.

"Over 80,000 people are needlessly blind in the Pacific Islands region, and in Fiji alone there is a backlog of more than 6,000 cases needing surgery. This number will continue to grow by roughly 800 new cases each year, unless we have more eye doctors and eye nurses available, in country, to provide urgently required eye care education and eye care services," she said.

- © Fairfax NZ News