Eye-care program gets Aussie aid

Eye-care program gets Aussie aid

DENPASAR, Bali: The Australian Agency for International
Development has granted Rp 58 million (AS$36,100) to an eye-care
center here.

The grant was presented on Tuesday by Australian Consul George
Fraser to the Community Eye Care and Blindness Prevention Center
which has provided cataract surgery and other eye treatment since
it was established in 1991.

The agency has given AS$242,935 to a mobile eye clinic
operated by the center, according to a statement released by the
Australian Embassy.

The latest grant is to assist the opening of a permanent home
for the eye care program here and will enable it to function
until funding from the Bali administration becomes available next
January.

The center will be staffed by local ophthalmologists trained
to use the latest Australian medical technology and equipment to
cure blindness which is estimated to affect 1.7 percent of the
2.8 million population of Bali. (01)