The Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children's Hospital, in partnership with the CWM Hospital Eye Department, provided a one-day free corrective eye surgery clinic for children with strabismus.
This initiative was made possible through the support of visiting paediatric ophthalmologist Dr Cheefoong Chong from New Zealand, in collaboration with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO).
Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital Director, Dr Krupali Tappoo, expresses her gratitude to RANZCO and Dr Chong for bringing this much-needed surgical service back to the community stressing procedures were carried out at the Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital with clinical and logistical assistance from the CWM Hospital eye team.
She explains that strabismus — a condition in which the eyes are misaligned — can lead to double vision, reduced depth perception, and amblyopia (lazy eye) if left untreated, adding that surgical correction involves adjusting the eye muscles under general anaesthesia to realign the eyes, followed by short-term post-operative care and outpatient follow-up to monitor alignment and visual development.
Dr Tappoo adds that the benefits for local children include improved binocular vision and depth perception, a reduced risk of long-term vision loss, and enhanced confidence and social development stressing providing these surgeries locally also eases the financial and travel burden for families and helps build local capacity in paediatric eye care.
She notes that this one-day surgical camp is a first step toward addressing the substantial unmet need for paediatric ophthalmology care among patients who cannot afford private services.
Dr Cheefoong Chong says it was a privilege to operate at the world-class Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital alongside the skilled CWM eye team and Sanjeevani staff to help children regain better eye alignment and confidence.
He says performing these surgeries in Fiji after such a long gap demonstrates what can be achieved through collaboration, and he looks forward to continuing this work.
Dr Lilly Dakuliga, an ophthalmologist from the CWM Eye Department who worked alongside Dr Chong, says she was grateful to him for strengthening her knowledge and skills in strabismus surgery adding that the timing of these surgeries was especially meaningful, as it brought long-awaited relief and satisfaction to both parents and children who had been waiting since 2023.
Dr Dakuliga says seeing the smiles on the children’s faces after surgery was a reminder of why this work matters.
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