Working together across waters

The team in Fiji were all smiles on Monday morning when a much-needed package of antibiotic injections arrived, courtesy of students travelling from Samoa. Cefuroxime Intra-cameral injections are used in cataract surgery and had been in short supply due to COVID-19 related shipping delays. Without this supply, the team wouldn’t have been able to operate on what is already a large backlog of patients.

Because of the shortage, the staff at the Pacific Eye Institute reached out to their counterparts in Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Samoa for help. All three of them graciously came to their aid and sent whatever supplies they could spare. Travel restrictions mean that courier deliveries are taking longer than normal, so it was fortunate that students from Samoa who were travelling to Fiji were able to personally bring the supply over with them. The shipments from Tonga and Solomon Islands are expected to arrive later this week.

Kirti Prasad, the General Manager at the Pacific Eye Institute, said they were on the verge of cancelling operations when this special delivery arrived. “This just warms our heart to see how we are working together across the waters and sharing our limited resources with each other in these trying times. We are so grateful for the eye care family we have across the region.”