Eye specialists treat more than 200

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Monday 13th May 2013

 MANY people in Western Highlands and Jiwaka have got rid of  their eye problems – thanks to a team of  ophthalmologists from Australia.

The eye specialists were in Mt Hagen from April 20 to May 4 treating patients with eye disease problems and even carried out surgeries.

One of PNG’s eye doctors, Dr David Pahau also joined the team.

They treated more than 200 people.

The specialists, on their annual visit, decided to base themselves at Mt Hagen this year because the Mt Hagen Provincial Hospital’s eye specialist had left two years ago.

The team conducted 191 successful surgeries of which 170 were for the removal of cataracts. 

Among them were three children,  two aged six years and the other a two-year-old boy.

The Mt Hagen Hospital’s eye clinic and Callan Optical Services of Goroka had spent the previous two weeks checking patients and conducting mobile clinics in the health centres to identify those needing treatment by the eye specialists.

Dr Guapo Kiagi, the acting Western Highlands provincial health authority director of curative health services, thanked the team for a “great job in giving a new lease of life to those who had bad eye-sights and problems”.

He said the Callan team could not visit all the health centres to check people’s eyes and referred those with problems to the eye specialists. 

The specialists included Dr Frances Booth (team leader), Dr Michael Scobie (ophthalmologist), Dr. Fergus Davidson (anaesthetist) and Sr Sue Anderson (theatre nurse).