The Fred Hollows Foundation has provided a second Diabetic Retinopathy Scanner (DRS) to Katherine-based Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Sunrise Health Service, to boost services addressing blindness.
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The camera will be operated by trained Aboriginal community health staff. Health care teams from Sunrise will take the camera on community outreach visits from Manyallaluk to Bullman, and on the bottom road from Mataranka to Ngukurr.
This means community members will not have to make the long journey to town.
Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in working age adults, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are three times more likely to have diabetes than other Australians.
Manager of the Indigenous Australia Program, The Fred Hollows Foundation Jaki Adams-Barton said the DRS camera would improve screening and treatment for people at risk of losing their sight from diabetes.
“Without the right equipment, our health practitioners can’t take the steps to end avoidable blindness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote communities,” Ms Adams-Barton said.
Sunrise Health Service CEO Dale Campbell said having the camera available would assist the chronic disease management team members who were travelling to communities regularly.
“It’s an effective way to bring eye health into the primary healthcare system,” he said.