Konstanze Fischer-Harder, Mere Vosaki, Gillian Clover, Garry Brian, John Szetu

Purpose:
The 2009 Fiji Eye Health Survey estimated that the prevalence of diabetes among adults aged ?40 years in Fiji is approximately 43%. To treat the associated ocular complications among those living in the Central and Eastern Divisions of Fiji, the Pacific Eye Institute re-established a comprehensive diabetes eye disease screening and management program. This program is based on the “Diabetes Retinal Screening, Grading and Management Guidelines for use in Pacific Island Nations 2009”, uses non-mydriatic digital retinal photography screening, offers laser treatment, pro-vides outreach services, and collects service data. The setting up of this program, the prevalence and severity of retinopathy among its clinic population and treat-ment efficacy is reported.

Methods:
Audit of clinical service records (October 2009–April 2010).

Preliminary Results:
1463 patients were screened. Of these, 713 (48.7%) had retinopathy: 188 (12.8%) people had proliferative disease and 448 (30.6%) had maculopathy in at least one eye. 33 (2.2%) people were blind from retinopathy. 532 laser treatments on 221 people were undertaken. Of patients in whom treatment is completed, those with the least severe sight threatening grades of retinopathy have best outcomes.

Conclusion:
The delivery of this program is tailored to the needs of the Central and Eastern Divisions. Given the burden of disease identified, similar pro-grams are needed elsewhere in Fiji and other Pacific Islands where the prevalence of diabetes is high and current services are deficient.