Earlier this year, the Pacific Eye Institute (PEI) in Suva welcomed Teaching Optometrist Stevenson Asadi. In his new role, Stevenson supports Postgraduate Diploma in Eye Care (PGDEC) students, mentors graduates, and oversees the prescribing and production of custom-made glasses for patients in Fiji and across the Pacific.
From India to Fiji
Stevenson grew up in Nizamabad, India. As a young man he wasn’t sure what he wanted to study and quite unconventionally decided on optometry, following a suggestion from a family friend.
Stevenson first came to Fiji in 2015. He worked at an NGO, Ba Vision Centre, for a year before moving to a private practice, Opticare, in Lautoka, where he became one of the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji approved optometrists. This role took him to remote islands, where he saw firsthand the challenges of delivering eye care in places with limited power and resources. While staying in Fiji, he also travelled with his pastor, Anand Singh, who worked with Samaritan’s Purse, reaching communities in need.
Those experiences showed him how many people were living with avoidable vision loss simply because they had no access to services. “I got to meet a few people whose vision was really bad and would have been avoidable if they’d had access to eye care. I thought maybe it’s really important to stay in Fiji, where eye care is scarce,” he says.
A focus on training
Starting out in private optometry, Stevenson’s interest in teaching was born from his church involvement, serving as a youth leader and having a talent for delivering sermons.
At PEI, he focuses on practical training, assisting students and graduates in the clinical setting alongside their Fiji National University (FNU) lectures, and providing workforce support to eye care workers around the Pacific. He also works with visiting Specsavers optometrists, who deliver theory while he leads hands-on clinical training.
Four months into his role, he’s driven by the goal of supporting The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ to enhance eye care services in the Pacific.
“I’ve been given this opportunity to train people… By doing this, I think I can support The Foundation to reach its goals in a sophisticated way,” he says. “By training local doctors and nurses, that will go on to serve in their own communities and care for the people that actually need it – many of which have conditions that can be avoided.”
Alongside teaching, Stevenson manages Fiji’s custom-made glasses service and supports similar services across the Pacific.
Challenges in eye healthcare
Stevenson reflects on the challenges of working in eye healthcare in the Pacific, including deteriorating health infrastructure, inadequate investment, and limited availability of medical supplies.
“The setting is not as sophisticated as other parts of the world – you have to get used to what they have and then think outside the box,” he says.
A recent workforce support visit to Labasa highlighted the realities of working in resource-limited settings. “Students are taught to do refraction in a dark room. But in Labasa Hospital there’s no dark room as such – so, if they really need to do retinoscopy, an eye exam that relies on light to test for refractive vision errors, then they need to rush to find a dark room,” Stevenson says.
“I explained to them, sometimes they might have to get used to doing retinoscopy with the lights on and blending in with the resources they have. I’m trying to show them the importance of doing retinoscopy regardless of the challenges that you face.”
Stevenson stresses the importance of donor support, and his gratitude for the difference it’s making.
“I’m happy to see each student is given the basic equipment as they go back to their communities. But at the same time, people deserve to have better eye care, not just basic eye care,” he says.
“I thank [donors] for their support. These funds are really required and necessary – without that we can’t move forward.”
