The goal in this ICEE programme is to contribute to the elimination of blindness and visual impairment and the prevention of disability from loss of vision in the Solomon Islands.

To do that, the programme for the Solomon Islands aligns with the organisation strategy and objectives - training eye care personnel, developing infrastructure and providing sustainable eye care services and affordable glasses to those in need.

This year ICEE has been involved in setting up an optical workshop providing refraction equipment and up-skilling ophthalmic nurses in Honiara's National Referral Hospital as well as Honiara Town Council and in Auki, Gizo and Malaita provinces of Solomon Islands.

The optical workshop is officially running and services extend into the four provinces - two spectacle technicians and one Vision Centre Manager are now operating the centre.

The program is endorsed by the Ministry of Health and Medical Services and the National Referral Hospital Eye Department.

ICEE work in the Solomon Islands is funded by AusAID Avoidable Blindness Initiative (ABI) facilitated by the Vision 2020 Australia Global Consortium.
Other programme activities by partners in Solomon Islands include:

• Building diagnostic & treatment capacity of eye health services
• Building surgical capacity in ophthalmology
• Development and implementation of a community based vision screening program for children aged 0 to 12 years
• Development and implementation of a RAAB survey to better understand the prevalence of avoidable blindness and quality of eye care services for people 50 years and above.

Funders:

• AusAID Avoidable Blindness Initiative (ABI) facilitated by the Vision 2020 Australia Global Consortium.
  

Partners:

• The lead agency of the consortium in the Solomon Islands is Foresight.
• CERA
• RACS
• RIDBC