Sight restored in time for Christmas

Around 400 people in Fiji's Ovalau have just received, thanks to a New Zealand charity, their best ever Christmas present - their sight has been restored after a decade.

"The people of Ovalau have no eye services on their island and have been waiting for a surgical eye team for a long time," says ophthalmologist John Szetu who headed up a team of Fred Hollows Foundation NZ trained eye professionals.

"To finally have a team visit the island is a significant milestone and the perfect Christmas gift."

He said they were able to help a large proportion of the people of Ovalau.

"However, there is still more to be done and I hope to return there next year."

A Solomon Islander, Dr Szetu, was supported by a team eye care nurses, which included individuals from Niue, Samoa and the Solomons, as well as Fiji.

The team carried out over 40 sight-saving operations, just in time for Christmas, as well as treating a large number of potentially blinding eye infections and providing low cost spectacles to the community.

Cataract blindness is the most prevalent cause of blindness in the Pacific, yet sight can be instantly restored in a straightforward operation that takes roughly 20 minutes and can cost as little as $25 in some countries.

Carmel Williams of The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ says that in order to reduce blindness in the Pacific, it is vital that more Pacific eye care professionals are trained to carry out sight restoring cataract surgery, and to service the region's need for basic eye care.

"The Pacific region, including Fiji, has a severe shortage of Pacific eye care workers," says Ms Williams.

"Over 80,000 people are needlessly blind in the Pacific Islands region, and in Fiji alone there is a backlog of more than 6,000 cases needing surgery. This number will continue to grow by roughly 800 new cases each year, unless we have more eye doctors and eye nurses available, in country, to provide urgently required eye care education and eye care services," she said.

Source: Stuff.co.nz,/a>

Three charged with treason in Fiji

Three charged with treason in Fiji

By MICHAEL FIELD.

Three people have been charged with treason in Fiji over an alleged plot to assassinate Fiji strongman Voreqe Bainimarama.

The three, whose names have been withheld, will also be charged with inciting mutiny and five counts each of conspiracy to murder.

The news has been announced by Police Commissioner Elesa Teleni just a short time after a Suva lawyer visited detained New Zealander Ballu Khan.

Tevita Fa saw Khan at Suva's public hospital where he was taken after being assaulted during arrest on Saturday.

"He is a sick man," Mr told Fairfax Media.

"There are visible signs of injuries on his face. He complained to me that he has got internal pain."

He said Khan spoke well but they did not discuss the injuries.

"The army and the police were listening attentively."

Fa said he told his client, who has not been arrested or charged yet, that he did not have to give any statements or interviews to the police unless his lawyer was present.

Teleni told reporters earlier today that Khan sustained his injuries while resisting arrest on Saturday.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said Khan, suffered injuries so severe he was having trouble speaking but Teleni has denied this.

"Let me assure you that Ballu Khan sustained only minor injuries and has been treated at (the Colonial War Memorial Hospital).

"These injuries were the result of both Mr Khan and his bodyguard resisting arrest and assaulting police officers."

Police say he was one of 16 men in custody who planned to kill Bainimarama, who staged a coup last December.

Police Commissioner Esala Teleni claimed at lunchtime there were armed groups travelling in Fiji, involved in the plot.

In a statement Bainimarama says there were "disgruntled groups" who had the potential to go to the extreme, but also says his country is safe for tourists and his police will do everything to safeguard them.

Tourism is Fiji's major foreign exchange earner and Bainimarama said visiting tourists could be assured authorities would do everything to safeguard them.

contd: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4262381a10.html