Labasa Outreach 2011

A surgical team from the Pacific Eye Institute in Suva (an initiative of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ) visited Labasa in late Augsust where they restored sight to 118 cataract-blind patients in just four days.

The need for eye care services in Labasa, a small town on Fiji’s second biggest island Vanua Levu, is huge as the local eye clinic has been short staffed for many years. Although the surgical team was pleased with the number of patients they treated, they left knowing that hundreds more people still need their help.

“Visits like these are often the only way we can reach people living in remote communities across the Pacific,” says Andrew Bell, Programmes Director at The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ. “There is a critical shortage of local eye doctors and nurses in the Pacific region and many communities have no eye care services at all. As a result 80,000 people across the Pacific are needlessly blind.”

Eight members of the nine person strong surgical team were Pacific Islanders, including Dr Salome who was born and raised in Labasa. Along with the rest of the team, Dr Salome is currently training to be an eye care specialist at the Pacific Eye Institute, which was set up by The Foundation in 2006 to address the shortage of eye care workers in the region. Dr Salome will graduate at the end of this year and return to Labasa to work at the eye clinic full time.

“I am really looking forward to returning to Labasa next year and providing eye care services in my own community,” says Dr Salome. “With the support of visiting teams from the Pacific Eye Institute I am confident we can further reduce the backlog of patients and eventually reach everyone in need.”

The generous support of New Zealanders through The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ helps fund around 12 surgical outreaches every year. In 2010 alone, over 1000 people had their sight restored by visiting teams from the Pacific Eye Institute