Vanuatu

In collaboration with local partners, we are committed to ensuring accessible, sustainable eye care services for the people of Vanuatu.

Vanuatu

Where we work

In the South-West Pacific lies the vibrant nation of Vanuatu, an archipelago of more than 80 islands

Vanuatu’s beautiful landscape consists of rugged mountains and offshore coral reefs. The nation’s culture – known as kastom in the local language, Bislama – informs the identity of the country and its people

Vanuatu is home to more than 330,000 people scattered across its islands. Most of the population lives along the coast of the eight largest islands, in rural and often isolated villages.

Our work in Vanuatu

We have partnered with the Government of Vanuatu for over 20 years and remain committed to ending avoidable blindness and vision impairment in the country. To do this, there will need to be a transformation of the eye care system in Vanuatu, which will take more than doing surgeries alone.

In 2001 we launched the country’s first national eye care programme, and over the following five years we supported the training of eye specialists and the establishment of two surgical centres, and helped equip four provincial hospitals with eye clinics.
In 2015 we partnered with the Ministry of Health to work towards the goal of training three new eye doctors. The following year we began training Dr Johnson Kasso, who graduated at the end of 2018 and returned home as the country’s first eye doctor.

We helped establish a diabetes eye disease programme in Port Vila to increase awareness of how living with diabetes can affect eye health. Local, Foundation-trained eye nurses now teach general nurses how to refer their patients for eye tests so that patients with diabetes eye disease can be screened and treated faster, helping reduce related rates of blindness.
In early 2019, we opened the new Vanuatu National Eye Centre in Port Vila following a $2.5 million upgrade and expansion of the previous centre.

Vanuatu: Progress in sight

In 2023 we supported a Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) survey in Vanuatu, which examined almost 5,000 people. The data and evidence gathered will help inform the Vanuatu Ministry of Health on their national prevalence rates of blindness and vision impairment. This information is crucial for national eye health planning and policy development, as well as increased financing for eye care

Also in 2023, Vanuatu’s National Eye Centre welcomed Dr Andronico Ly as Senior Consultant Ophthalmologist, further strengthening local services. The year also saw the graduation of a Vanuatu eye nurse from the Postgraduate Diploma in Eye Care from Fiji National University

The Government of Vanuatu is in the process of signing a Partnership Agreement extension with The Foundation, demonstrating their determination to continue building a strong, accessible local eye health care system.

Vanuatu

Our work in Vanuatu

Vanuatu: Progress in sight

Get impact in your inbox

Newsletter sign up form