“My eyes have been opened,” declared Minister for Health & HIV-Aids, the Honourable Jelta Wong as he launched the World Report on Vision in PNG. Speaking at the University of Papua New Guinea, during the first launch event in the Pacific Islands, the Minister acknowledged that he was surprised by the high rates of blindness…
South Australian Dr James Muecke has been named 2020 Australian of the Year for his work in preventing blindness that impacts 1 in 10 Australians. Dr James Muecke is an Eye Health Hero and founder of Sight For All, an organisation dedicated to fighting all causes of blindness with projects in Aboriginal and mainstream Australian…
On October 6, 2019, nurses came together to form an Ophthalmic Nurses Association for The Philippines. While there are many nurses who work in Ophthalmology in the Philippines, Ophthalmic Nursing as a distinct specialty is still not recognized. The aim of this fledgling group called, the Philippine Ophthalmic Nurses Assocation (PhONA) is to define the…
Ophthalmic nurse Santoula Keo Manizay is quiet and reserved but his actions speak louder than words. At just 31, he has checked more than 2,000 pairs of eyes and trained more than 1000 volunteer health workers in the most remote villages of Lao PDR. He is a true eye health champion. Santoula was a regular…
The beginning of 2018 for IAPB WPRO has included a round of workshops and membership meetings. During 2017, our membership consultation elicited key priorities right across the region. These have helped us develop a strategy for 2018, narrowing down our focus to the themes you, our members, have highlighted. In order to ensure that these…
Position Filled The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ (FHFNZ) is recruiting a Clinical Quality Assurance Coordinator to join their Auckland-based programme team. Reporting to the Programme Director, this is a newly created position. The Clinical Quality Assurance Coordinator will support the Pacific eye care workforce to deliver services in a safe and appropriate manner, working towards…
To fulfil the mission of poverty reduction through reducing avoidable visual impairment and facilitating rehabilitation for people with unavoidable visual impairment in Cambodia. Caritas Takeo Eye Hospital (CTEH), has been working for 20 years to improve community awareness of eye health issues and to advocate to policy makers for implementation of the national strategic plan…
Kudos to the team at CBM in Papua New Guinea who launched the Goroka Hospital Eye Clinic Operating Theatre on World Sight Day. Pictured here is Dr Geoffrey Wabulembo speaking at the launch. The event was funded by the hospital – another example of well-forged partnerships in action.
3 days of free eye testing in Cambodia – what a brilliant way to bring all of the stakeholders together in the drive to eliminate avoidable blindness. A perfect example of partnerships in action.
With Vision Atlas launches taking place across the Western Pacific Region, the team from Shanghai Eye Disease Treatment and Prevention Centre (SEDTPC) decided this was a great opportunity to highlight the growing burden of myopia in China. Dr Jianfeng Zhu, Director of Division of Preventive Ophthalmology noted how pleasing it is to see that the…
Across the South Pacific, members of the eye health fraternity have taken the opportunity of this year’s World Sight Day – Make Vision Count – to launch the Vision Atlas. As a repository of data and advocacy tool the Atlas is particularly important in these far-flung, often remote island nations. Sister Savelina, Diabetic Retinopathy Nurse…
Dr Anthea Burnett (BHVI) Dr Jambi Garap (PNG) Amanda Davis, Marleen Nelisse (FHFNZ) Dr Ana Cama (PacEyes) Dr Mundi Qalo (Pacific Eye Institute) Drew Keys. During June, PacEyes held its bi-annual conference in Suva, Fiji. With participants from across the South Pacific and from a variety of eye health disciplines, the two-day event lived up…
Amanda Davis is the Chairperson of International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), Western Pacific as well as the Chief Executive Officer of the Brien Holden Vision Institute, Public Health. Since 2006, Amanda has overseen the growth of the Institute’s public health division to where it has assisted the development of eye care services in…
Drew Keys, IAPB Western Pacific‘s new Regional Coordinator, has degrees in Law and Asian Studies and a background working in retail management. For the past six years, Drew has lived in-and-out of Papua New Guinea, managing PNG Eye Care as well as PNG and Pacific programmes for the Brien Holden Vision Institute. He has coordinated…
Dr Andreas Mueller has returned to supporting the Eye Health programme at the WHO Office of the Western Pacific Region. The objective of the programme is to work with countries in accelerating the implementation of “Towards Universal Eye Health: A Regional Action Plan for the Western Pacific Region (2014-2019)”. Andreas will provide technical support on…
IAPB would like to welcome three new Group C members to our coalition, Conselho Brasileiro De Oftalmologia – CBO, Pushpagiri Vitreo Retina Institute and Japan National Society for the Prevention of Blindness. Conselho Brasileiro De Oftalmologia – CBO joined IAPB in April. Founded in 1941, the Brazilian Council of Ophthalmology (CBO) is a scientific and cultural…
Pictured (from L to R): Chief Ophthalmologist, Dr Simon Melengas; Dr Goa Tau, Director Medical Services (NDoH), Deputy Secretary of Health, Dr Paison Dakulala; PBL President, Dr Jambi Garap and Dr Bieb, Director Disease Control (NDoH). “It was tough”, PNG Eye Care General Manager, Samuel Koim, explained, presenting the logistic of the PNG Rapid Assessment…
At Seeing is Believing (SiB), we are always keen to find innovative ways to share learning from SiB projects and build networks between partners. Based on the success of our webinars held in 2016, we decided to continue this exciting learning opportunity. In April 2017 we held webinars on the theme of sustainability. The aims of…
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