LUMEN Summer 2020 - Flipbook - Page 7
that transformed my idea of what
I wanted to do, but also instilled in
me a desire to continue working in
public health in poorer countries,”
he said.
At the same time, James was very
interested in ophthalmology, the
study of medical and surgical
conditions relating to the eyes, and
felt this was a field where he could
really make a difference.
“So that's where the path took me.”
James was thrilled to get a call from
the Director of the Department of
Ophthalmology at Royal Adelaide
Hospital, Colin Moore, offering him
a job, and he came back to Adelaide
to start ophthalmology training
in 1990.
For James, the driving force to start
Sight for All came from several
powerful experiences. The first being
an adult blindness study in Myanmar
in 2005, which was followed by a
childhood blindness study in 2007.
“I was in my early 40s at the time,
and I was seeing adults younger than
me who were blind from cataracts, a
cause of blindness we rarely see here
in Australia.
“And to see person after person
after person blind from a completely
avoidable, readily treatable condition
was staggering to me,” he said.
In the childhood blindness study
in Myanmar the results were
heartbreaking.
“We found that measles was the
leading cause of blindness – to be
surrounded by children who are
blind and disfigured irreversibly
from measles was absolutely
gobsmacking, and the whole team
involved was quite emotionally
impacted by this,” said James.
These experiences inspired James
and some of his colleagues, with
funding from AusAID (now the
Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade), to establish a comprehensive
national program in Myanmar to
address several issues, including
training doctors across a number of
sub-specialities of eye health, and
equipping more than 30 regionalised
centres throughout the country.
The published findings of the
study led to a Myanmar eye
specialist being brought to Australia
to be trained as a paediatric
ophthalmologist with James and
his colleagues.
“That was a wonderful thing –
and he's been back there for 10
years now and is providing close
to 30,000 treatments every year.
And he's training two paediatric
ophthalmologists every year using
the expertise he gained here in
Adelaide,” said James.
There has been quite the
turnaround. According to a 2018
follow-up study in Myanmar,
the level of avoidable childhood
blindness has started to fall.
Back in Australia, James is also
determined to reduce the level
of avoidable blindness caused by
diseases such as diabetes, which is
the leading cause of blindness among
working age adults, and the fastest
growing cause of vision loss in
Aboriginal people.
“Unlike in countries such as
Myanmar, where access to
healthcare is a major issue, it’s not
the case here. Diabetes is a leading
cause of blindness because more
than half of the patients with this
disease are not having their regular
sight-saving eye checks,” said James.
There is an estimated 1.7 million
people with diabetes in Australia and
90 per cent are type 2.
“What’s extraordinary, and
surprisingly little known, is that type
2 diabetes and its complications are
often preventable and reversible
in many through diet and lifestyle
factors. Modifiable risk factors
include unhealthy diets (too
much added sugar and refined
carbohydrates), being physically
inactive, and weight gain,”
said James.
As Australian of the Year, James
is on a mission to raise awareness
of this serious issue and provide
strategies to not only reduce the
number of people losing vision or
going blind because of diabetes, but
also to prevent type 2 diabetes in
the first place, including waging war
on sugar.
James's work and travel have enabled
him to dabble in photography,
a much enjoyed hobby. In fact,
photography and other art
exhibitions have become an
important part of fundraising for
Sight for All programs.
“A lot of what we do is around
art, because loss of our ability to
appreciate art and the beauty of the
world would be a devastating thing
for many, many people,” he said
Learn more about Sight for All from
sightforall.org
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Dr James Muecke AM
ALUMNI MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2020
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