Context
In Papua New Guinea, the government puts just 2.6% of GDP towards healthcare. This significantly limits how much money is available for eye care services, making blindness and visual impairment frequent occurrences.
Community health workers are the cornerstones of the country's healthcare system. They provide primary care in isolated rural areas to most of the population. However, they are not trained to offer eye care services. With just 14 ophthalmologists in the entire country, health workers' skills urgently need to be improved so they can screen and treat eye disease.
Supported project
In 2018-2019, L'OCCITANE Australia and the Foundation supported Kokoda Track Foundation "Sight for Papua New Guinea" project. This project supported Eye care training for rural-based Community Health Workers in Papua New Guinea. The post graduate training program built the skills and knowledge of health workers in eye health, refractive error, stigmatism and eye disease; and also introduced a first-of-its- kind innovative technology that enables health workers to screen for refractive error and provide spectacles at an affordable and subsidized cost.
Some figures
Budget 20,000 euros
Results 100,800 beneficiaries
