West New Britain - Kimbe Clinic
A new eye health clinic opened in Kimbe, the capital of West New Britain, brings a much-needed service to the island
The Kimbe Eye Clinic was officially opened on 14 October 2010 – World Sight Day – by the province’s governor, Peter Humphreys.
West New Britain lies to the north of mainland PNG and has a population of about 185,000 people. However, there is no resident eye doctor and the closest eye service is based in Rabul, hundreds of kilometers away. About 2000 on the island live with avoidable blindness, while another 300 lose their vision every year.
When she arrived in the province, the Hollows PNG West New Britain nurse coordinator Lindsay Dewhurst was dismayed by the lack of eye-care facilities to care for these people and resolved to do something about it.
With funding support from the provincial government, Kimbe General Hospital, the New Zealand Aid Programme, and New Britain Palm Oil Ltd, construction of the stand-alone clinic began in June 2008 and was completed in October 2010.
At the clinic’s official opening, Governor Humphreys said: “Her persistence has virtually verged on harassment at times but Lindsay, thank you very much for doing it!’’
The clinic provides a valuable central hub for a province-wide eye care program which has been initiated by Lindsay. Every month, the West New Britain eye team come together and go into a rural area (usually on the provincial government vessel, MV Artemis) to deliver sight restoring surgery and to improve vision through the provision of affordable glasses.
For more information on Lindsay's work in West New Britain click here
For more information on our PNG programs click here
