The chair of the Catholic Health Australia Stewardship Board has addressed a Vatican conference about the physical and spiritual care of people with visual impairment living in Australia, CHA said in a statement.
Tony Wheeler was one of several international speakers invited to the conference, hosted by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, to describe efforts to improve the visual health of people in their home countries.
The deputy chair of Catholic Health Australia’s Stewardship Board, Rowena McNally, also attended the conference, which had the theme “The Non-Sighted Person: ‘Master, I want to see’ (Mark 10:51).”
Addressing the conference on the final afternoon, Mr Wheeler spoke of the unique vision challenges faced by Australians because of the harshness of the sun in this part of the world, which causes a higher incidence of cataract problems than in other developed countries.
He also explained how some Catholic hospitals are able to ease the backlog of long waiting lists for people needing quick, straightforward and effective cataract surgeries.
“It is part of the holistic understanding of health care provision that can restore people’s quality of life that our hospitals strive to deliver,” Mr Wheeler told the conference. “Our Catholic universities, too, are helping to educate the doctors and nurses of tomorrow who will continue that work.”
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Catholic health leader addresses Vatican conference
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