Cataract surgery and retinal eye injections can now be administered locally

Cataract surgery and retinal eye injections can now be administered locally. 

This has been made possible after an Eye Team from New Zealand trained two Niue doctors to administer retinal eye injections. 

There are a handful of patients who previously needed to be flown to Auckland for monthly injections to preserve their sight. 

Now that cataract surgery and retinal eye injections can be administered locally there will be significant future savings for the Health system through reduced patient time management and travel costs

This year The Eye Team completed 34 cataract operations using modern equipment recently arrived on-island; monitored diabetic patients’ eye sight and carried out routine eye checks/surgery for 300 people over two weeks.

All diabetics are advised to have an eye check at least every two years to identify problems at an early stage otherwise these patients risk losing their vision completely.