Kiribati
Kiribati is a collection of islands located near the equator, meaning warm tropical weather all year-round. It's also one of the most physically remote and dispersed countries in the world, making it difficult for the one eye doctor to see all those in need.
What are the eye health problems?
The country’s only eye doctor graduated from the Pacific Eye Institute in December 2014 and is developing an eye care programme for Kiribati.
With an estimated 28.1 percent of the population suffering from diabetes, Kiribati has a large number of people who need to be screened regularly for signs of diabetic retinopathy and consequently requiring urgent treatment. The Kiribati eye care clinic has limited resources to meet this need.
Our work in Kiribati
With a trained and highly capable national eye care workforce, the local health authorities are very enthusiastic about increasing eye care services for the country. However, the eye care team face a number of challenges as the eye clinic infrastructure is unsuitable to cater for increased levels of eye care service, due to its small size and poor condition.
We continue to work with the Kiribati eye care team and other stakeholders to address these challenges, and recognition by the national Ministry of Health has meant the eye team have been granted a larger clinic for eye care services. The clinic is in poor condition and we're planning some upgrades so the eye care team can work in a suitable space.
Progress in sight
- We continue to support the clinic by ensuring it has up-to-date equipment, medicines and supplies.
- The eye care team has been active in raising awareness of diabetic eye disease by training primary health carers throughout Kiribati. This means that more patients are referred to the eye clinic, where an average of 100 diabetic patients are screened for signs of diabetic eye disease monthly.