Australia Bali Memorial Eye Centre
Encyclopedia
The Australia Bali Memorial Eye Centre is an eye clinic and day surgery centre in Indonesia
. It opened on October 1, 2007.
The construction of the Centre was part of the Australian Government’s Bali
Recovery Package after the 2002 Bali bombings, and was achieved after a submission to the Australian Government from The John Fawcett Foundation
. The $7 million project was commissioned by AusAID, with a design team which included experts from Australia
and Indonesia. The Centre is owned and managed by the Bali Provincial Department of Health and operated in partnership with the John Fawcett Foundation and its Indonesian arm, the Yayasan Kemanusiaan Indonesia.
Staff from the Lions Eye Institute
in Perth
, Western Australia
, were instrumental in setting up the Centre. The Institute’s director of nursing
, Elizabeth Zambotti, commissioned the facility after playing a key role in its development, while Institute director Professor Ian Constable oversaw training of Indonesian ophthalmologists by LEI staff.
In the first two days 160 Indonesian patients were seen and a dozen cataract operations were performed by Indonesian ophthalmologists.
The Centre has a training facility with digital imaging teaching capacity to enhance the surgical skills of young Indonesian and Australian graduate ophthalmologists, providing for academic exchange between Indonesian and Australian ophthalmologists and trainees. Theatres provide digital imaging from microscopic views of eye surgeries for capture, replay and analysis. The wet lab also has video imaging facilities for teaching.
It is planned to develop specialized clinics in the Centre for glaucoma
and diabetic retinopathy
which are on the increase in the Balinese community. The Centre also has optometry
facilities with basic manufacturing and assembling capacity to cater for the almost 70 per cent of poor patients who benefit from remedial glasses
.
In the event of a natural disaster
in Bali, the 2,500 sq m two-story building also has the potential to become a first-level trauma centre, as it has two theatres/three-table surgical capacity and high quality sterilization
, x-ray
and ultrasound
facilities.
Two mobile eye surgical units are attached to the Centre and travel to remote areas in Bali to operate on the poor in their villages. Each mobile clinic team with one ophthalmic surgeon, four nurses and two drivers can check over 18,000 people with eye problems in a year and perform around 1,200 cataract
operations.
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. It opened on October 1, 2007.
The construction of the Centre was part of the Australian Government’s Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
Recovery Package after the 2002 Bali bombings, and was achieved after a submission to the Australian Government from The John Fawcett Foundation
The John Fawcett Foundation
The John Fawcett Foundation is an Australian charity which works in Indonesia to provide eye cataract surgery and prevent blindness.The organization's founder, John Fawcett, started his humanitarian work in Bali, Indonesia, in 1989 with a program to help children afflicted with cleft lips and palates...
. The $7 million project was commissioned by AusAID, with a design team which included experts from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Indonesia. The Centre is owned and managed by the Bali Provincial Department of Health and operated in partnership with the John Fawcett Foundation and its Indonesian arm, the Yayasan Kemanusiaan Indonesia.
Staff from the Lions Eye Institute
Lions Eye Institute
The Lions Eye Institute in Perth, Western Australia, is the largest eye research institute in the southern hemisphere. It is a limited liability company, with not-for-profit and tax-exempt gift recipient status, overseen by a Board of Directors...
in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, were instrumental in setting up the Centre. The Institute’s director of nursing
Director of nursing
A director of nursing is a registered nurse who supervises the care of all the patients at a health care facility. The director of nursing has special training beyond that of any clinical nurse for the position that pertains to health care management, and in some places, a director of nursing must...
, Elizabeth Zambotti, commissioned the facility after playing a key role in its development, while Institute director Professor Ian Constable oversaw training of Indonesian ophthalmologists by LEI staff.
In the first two days 160 Indonesian patients were seen and a dozen cataract operations were performed by Indonesian ophthalmologists.
The Centre has a training facility with digital imaging teaching capacity to enhance the surgical skills of young Indonesian and Australian graduate ophthalmologists, providing for academic exchange between Indonesian and Australian ophthalmologists and trainees. Theatres provide digital imaging from microscopic views of eye surgeries for capture, replay and analysis. The wet lab also has video imaging facilities for teaching.
It is planned to develop specialized clinics in the Centre for glaucoma
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage, permanently damaging vision in the affected eye and progressing to complete blindness if untreated. It is often, but not always, associated with increased pressure of the fluid in the eye...
and diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy
Diabetic retinopathy is retinopathy caused by complications of diabetes mellitus, which can eventually lead to blindness....
which are on the increase in the Balinese community. The Centre also has optometry
Optometry
Optometry is a health care profession concerned with eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans. Optometrists, or Doctors of Optometry, are state licensed medical professionals trained to prescribe and fit lenses to improve vision,...
facilities with basic manufacturing and assembling capacity to cater for the almost 70 per cent of poor patients who benefit from remedial glasses
Glasses
Glasses, also known as eyeglasses , spectacles or simply specs , are frames bearing lenses worn in front of the eyes. They are normally used for vision correction or eye protection. Safety glasses are a kind of eye protection against flying debris or against visible and near visible light or...
.
In the event of a natural disaster
Natural disaster
A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...
in Bali, the 2,500 sq m two-story building also has the potential to become a first-level trauma centre, as it has two theatres/three-table surgical capacity and high quality sterilization
Sterilization (microbiology)
Sterilization is a term referring to any process that eliminates or kills all forms of microbial life, including transmissible agents present on a surface, contained in a fluid, in medication, or in a compound such as biological culture media...
, x-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
and ultrasound
Ultrasound
Ultrasound is cyclic sound pressure with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is thus not separated from "normal" sound based on differences in physical properties, only the fact that humans cannot hear it. Although this limit varies from person to person, it is...
facilities.
Two mobile eye surgical units are attached to the Centre and travel to remote areas in Bali to operate on the poor in their villages. Each mobile clinic team with one ophthalmic surgeon, four nurses and two drivers can check over 18,000 people with eye problems in a year and perform around 1,200 cataract
Cataract
A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...
operations.