Hundreds in Fatima benefit from eye surgery

Under the title "Hundreds in Fatima benefit from eye surgery" Daniel Gerson of the newspaper "highlands" reports about a one-week eye outreach program in the Jiwaka province of Papua New Guinea.

He writes:

„People suffering from cataract and pterygium complications which commonly cause poor eye sight leading to complete blindness, attended a weeklong eye surgery operations held at the Fatima Catholic Health Centre recently.

Eye specialist and surgeon Dr. Waimbe Wahamu, with support staff deployed under the Western Highlands provincial health authority, conducted eye surgery operations for more than 181 patients.

Through a subsidy funding allocation with the support of Callan Services for Persons with Disability, mostly elderly people had their eyesight restored.

60-year-old Paul Koip, a peace mediator in the North Whagi area, lost his eyesight almost a decade ago and could not perform his role in the community.

Callan Services for Persons with Disability community rehabilitation base program coordinator Daniel Pamanda commended the joint arrangement between Jiwaka provincial government through the division of health, Fatima Catholic Health Centre and the Western Highlands provincial health authority. 

This is for ensuring that the service reached the community level.“