Lucky break for Solomon Islands eye care

John Key’s pain is the Solomon Islands’ gain as proceeds from the sale of the Prime Minister’s arm cast will pay for many Solomon Islanders to see again, according to The Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand.

The auction of the cast on TradeMe closed on Sunday, 8 February, and raised a total of $18,500 for eye care in the Solomons. Liz Beavon of the NZ Police, currently based in the Solomons with the Regional Assistance Mission (RAMSI), originally approached Mr Key with the idea when he was visiting there late January.

The money raised from the sale of Mr Key’s cast will go towards funding two surgical outreach visits to remote parts of the Solomons this year. Good news for villagers there – during the last two surgical visits Fred Hollows eye doctors saw 440 people and restored the sight of nearly 100 people.

Recent graduate of The Foundation’s Pacific Eye Institute (PEI), Solomon Islands eye doctor, Dr Nola Pikacha says: “The outreach visits are valuable for several reasons – local people with visual impairment gain access to quality eye care, local eye doctors and nurses receive additional on-the-job training, and PEI student eye doctors and nurses gain practical clinical and surgical experience.”

Executive Director of The Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand, Carmel Williams, said “We’re extremely grateful to the Prime Minister, Liz Beavon, TradeMe, the hundreds of people bidding over the last week and, of course, the winning bidder.”

“It’s wonderful to be able to help more people in this remote region and to restore the gift of sight to so many."

ENDS///

For more information, please contact:

Nicki Paull
Communications Manager
Tel: 09 304 0772
npaull@hollows.org.nz

Find out more about our work in the Solomon Islands