The Foundation welcomes the Australian Government's renewed commitment to treating avoidable blindness in the Pacific.
The announcement was made today by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, and Minister for International Development, Melissa Parke.
AUSTRALIA COMMITS TO TREATING AVOIDABLE BLINDNESS IN THE PACIFIC
24 July 2013
Foreign Minister, Bob Carr, and Minister for International Development, Melissa Parke, today announced Australia would help support 8,000 operations to restore the sight of people in the Pacific.
‘This is an area where Australian aid is making a real difference to people’s lives and the prosperity of communities in our region,’ Senator Carr said.
The procedures will be delivered through the third phase of the Pacific Regional Blindness Prevention Program—a partnership with the New Zealand Aid Programme and Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand.
Newly appointed Minister for International Development, Melissa Parke, said the program would provide immediate and important benefits to those who suffer blindness, as well as long-term economic gains for Pacific countries.
‘In developing countries, the economic benefits of eliminating avoidable blindness and visual impairment outweigh the costs by a factor of four to one'
- Ms. Parke
Australia has committed $2.5 million over the next three years for the avoidable blindness program. This will allow more than 30,000 patient consultations and 8,000 sight-restoring operations to take place across the Pacific.
Fifty-six nurses and 16 community health workers will also be trained in eye care through the Fiji-based Pacific Eye Institute.
Solomon Islanders make up the largest number of students and graduates from the Pacific Eye Institute. Four ophthalmologists and 19 eye nurses have already been trained, and two more nurses are set to graduate this year.
Ms Parke said as a result, more than 500 sight-restoring surgeries are expected to be performed in Solomon Islands during 2013.
‘In addition to restoring vision and changing individual lives, there are important social benefits that come from these surgeries,’ Ms Parke said.
‘The carers of the blind and partially blind, for instance, are mostly women and girls. Following a sight-restoring procedure, the carers also become liberated to go to school or out to work.’
Senator Carr and Ms Parke are in Honiara, Solomon Islands for the 10th anniversary of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI).
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