The International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) has launched new eye care services at Port Moresby General Hospital.
By providing quality eye care for patients seeking an affordable pair of glasses, as well as acting as a centre for eye care personnel training ICEE will be able to provide a long term solution to the eyecare needs in PNG.
President of ‘PNG Eye Care’, Dr Jambi Garap welcomed the initiative saying: “PNG is in need of eye care services that provide quality access to care for all people regardless of their economic circumstances. It is imperative that PNG Eye Care provides a structure to allow and encourage access to services and the right treatment outcomes for all conditions.
“There is a desperate need for this service. A recent study conducted in PNG suggested that 29.2 per cent and 8.9 per cent of people over 50 years of age are vision impaired and functionally blind respectively. Uncorrected refractive error and cataract are the leading causes of vision impairment”.
PNG is in need of eye care services that provide quality access to care for all people regardless of their economic circumstances. It is imperative that PNG Eye Care provides a structure to allow and encourage access to services and the right treatment outcomes for all conditions
ICEE CEO, Professor Brien Holden, said: “This is an exciting first step for PNG Eye Care. It’s a great example of partnership between the local community, government and ICEE, an international non-government organisation which has the established systems for training local eye health workers, a supply chain for low cost spectacles and the ability to expand to meet the demands of the population.”
Professor Holden said there are more than 300 million people in the world today blind or vision impaired, who could see if they had access to an eye examination and the right pair of glasses. The global cost of this unnecessary disability, he said, is approximately US$42 billion per annum and by 2020 is expected to be in excess of US$110 billion”.
