NEWS UPDATE : JANUARY - APRIL 2008

SAD NEWS – YKI/JFF WITHDRAWS ITS SUPPORT FROM THE ABMEC

The former Director of ABMEC, Dr Dharyata, was replaced in March by Dr Srijoni from the Bali Health Department, and subsequently we were advised that local regulations regarding the Centre had been reviewed, resulting in a change in the patient clientele to be treated at the Centre. Under these new regulations, the Foundation is unable to support operations for poor patients and so has had no option but to withdraw its support of this facility.

The Australia Bali Memorial Eye Centre has been a great disappointment to the Foundation since its opening in October 2007, both in its low output of cataract surgery and in the bureaucratic barriers to the Foundation’s being able to support free surgery for the poor which was the original purpose of the gift.

The decision to withdraw has been made with great sadness, as the ABMEC and its huge potential for ophthalmology in Indonesia and in assisting the cataract poor has been the focus of our planning for several years.

ON A POSITIVE NOTE, EVEN MORE PATIENTS BEING ASSISTED …

The Foundation is switching its resources to work more actively with the autonomous District Health Departments in Bali and other provinces – field eye screening, distributing glasses and establishing free cataract operating programs. We look forward to expanding our Sight Restoration program into many new areas, as these activities have the potential to multiply our effectiveness many times over, and to assist even more of the 1.8 million cataract blind people in Indonesia who are so poor they cannot afford the operation to restore their sight.

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