Even with bad weather and pink eye still a risk for Samoa, the Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand and a team of Pacific eye specialists who are in Savai’i at the moment say they are progressing well with surgery this week says Dr. Mundi Qalo, Outreach Ophthalmologist and team leader, that is despite problems they have faced.
“A few things happened during our visit but we are glad to say that we are on track with our patients”, he said.
“Yesterday we received about 20 patients and the numbers have gone up today.”
He was also concerned about the conditions they had to face while serving their patients.
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“The floods here has affected some of our patients not making it on time with their appointments and the outbreak of eye infections (pink eye) is making it hard for us to operate on these patients”, said Dr. Mundi.
“However, we have still managed to cope and assist as many people as we could.”
He said that there was a big difference to the number of people coming in for surgery this year compared to other years they have visited.
“Just last year, the team performed 89 surgeries which is less than we expected.”
For this year, Dr. Mundi said that the team hopes to perform over 100 eye surgeries.
“At the moment, we are on track to meet this target”, he said.
He was also pleased and grateful of the assistance provided by local doctors and nurses who assisted them with their patients.
“We want to thank the local team for organising themselves”, he said. They are also encouraging and training local doctors and nurses to do the same surgeries themselves.
“This is a positive impact for Samoa as they will have their own qualified eye doctors and nurses in future”, he said “We will not have to come back, for doctors and nurses here will, by then, be able to perform the operations”, he said.
Dr. Mundi is passionate about the outreach effort. “Eye surgery is a miracle”.
“You are blind today and you’ll see tomorrow”.
“Its life changing for those who cannot see”, he said The trip was funded by the Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand.
This is their fourth visit, with 2010 the first by Dr. Mundi and his team. They will be in Apia from 15th to 19th September.
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