EYE HEALTH SERVICE PILLAR OF HEALTH CARE, PM TOLD

A combined team of eye specialists from the Fred Hollows Foundation New Zealand and the newly opened Regional Eye Centre in Honiara has told Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare that eye health service is one of the pillars of health care.

“It should be a matter of priority in the government budget,” the specialists told Prime Minister Sogavare in a recent meeting.

A media statement about the meeting highlighted the need to prioritise budget allocation for eye care.

The specialists told the Prime Minister, ‘Eye Care’ has been fighting for a reasonable share of the cake over the years but it seems the message did not sink in well and so they remind the government to give priority to eye care service in its future budgets.

It said donors would be willing to support eye care service but would like to see the Solomon Islands Government take the leading role in budget funding allocation.

In response, Prime Minister Sogavare welcomed the delegation’s emphasis of the importance of government prioritising eye care service and assured them the Democratic Coalition for Change Government will look into prioritising the eye care budget allocation.

The Prime Minister acknowledged that very little budget allocation was provided to help people with special needs including eyesight problems over the years.

He said the Government will address this problem.