A Solomon Islands eye surgeon who's saved the eyesight of
thousands of people wants urgent action to counter blindness in the
Pacific.
Dr John Szetu from the Fred Hollows Foundation says more than
300,000 people in the region are blind or have seriously impaired
eyesight and the problem is not getting any better.
"Suddenly there's light and colours streaming back to a persons
vision. I think that is a miracle," says Szetu.
Seventy percent of all those who are blind in the Pacific could be cured and all they need is a cataract operation.
Szetu is the unsung hero trying to make it happen.
He is already responsible for giving 9000 people the chance to see again.
"I'm glad I have been able to help these 9000 people but there's still another 80,000 left," says Szetu.
The problem is most Pacific Islanders live in remote areas away from eye care services but as part of the Fred Hollows Foundation, Szetu travels to those areas with a specialist team, operating on those who need it.
It costs just $25 per person but more cash is needed.
"It is the utmost importance otherwise the battle of blind people will continue to accumulate each year," says Szetu.
He is also training others because there is a desperate shortage of Pacific Islanders who are eye doctors and nurses to deal with one of the highest levels of cataract blindness in the world.
"Its not only the work he's actually does clinically on patients, its the fact he's training other people to start doing that work as well in their own countries," says Carmel Williams from the Fred Hollows Foundation in New Zealand.
Szetu says the joy he sees in the eyes of patients ecstatic over the fact that they can see is enough reward for him and a reward for those who can see again cannot be measured.
The Fred Hollows Foundation launches its national appeal on Saturday.
