The St John Ophthalmic Branch engages in fundraising for Australian and international eye health initiatives, as well as providing eye health education for St John members and the community.
St John Ambulance Australia and the Wurli-Wurlinjang Project
St John Ambulance Australia has provided over $160,000 to fund an eye screening aboriginal health worker in Katherine, Northern Territory. The aboriginal health worker works for Wurli Wurlinjang Aboriginal Health Service. This is an important joint response from St John and Wurli Wurlinjang to address the issue of eye disease within the indigenous communities in and around Katherine.
The St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem
The traditional links of the Order of St John with Jerusalem are reflected in the work of the Jerusalem Eye Hospital. This is a major eye hospital established and maintained by international members of the Order including Australia.
The Hospital is in East Jerusalem, and provides ophthalmic care, including sophisticated eye surgery, for a predominantly underprivileged Arab community among whom eye disease is a serious and widespread problem. There is also a clinic in Gaza and an Outreach program through which the villages of the West Bank are visited by a team from the hospital, with the aim of preventing eye disease or treating it at an early stage rather than allowing it to take hold and then require therapy.
St John Ambulance Australia raises money for the hospital and funds three Ophthalmic Outreach Nurses - Ameer Badawi (funded entirely by NSW), Hannan Za'alan and Khaled Zuaiter.
Supporting the People of Oecussi, East Timor
The St John Ophthalmic national program provides support to the people of Oecussi in East Timor. This is a joint venture with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. In September 2006 a group including a number of St John members visited the east Timorese exclave of Oecussi to perform a range of eye operations and other interventions. The trip was part of a three year St John commitment to support the people of Oecussi.
The types of procedures performed included: Cataract & Intraocular Lens; Pterygium; Chalazion; Repair of Iris Prolapse; Capsulotomy; Superficial Keratotomy; Enucleation; and Anterior Orbitotomy.
St John contributed a microscope, surgical consumables and a number of first aid kits that we donated to the Oecussi community.
St John is a self-funding charity. To help support these and other St John initiatives, contact St John on 1300 360 455. Your generous donation could save a life.