Paediatric ophthalmologist and laser eye surgeon Dr Liz Conner recently traveled to Laos, where she spent a week mentoring local ophthalmologists, before heading to Brisbane to present at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Strabismus and Paediatric Ophthalmology (APSPOS) Congress. On her return, Liz provided this quick rundown of her trip.
You traveled to Vientiane in Laos as a Lao Paediatric Ophthalmology fellow for Sight for All, an initiative that strengthens local capacity to deliver paediatric eye care. What did you work on over there?
I mentored three ophthalmologists through clinical work and surgical training and also helped with screening babies for ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) which is a condition that can cause blindness in premature babies.
A major part of the work focused on core paediatric eye care, particularly early detection and management of amblyopia (‘lazy eye’), refractive error, and strabismus (crossed eyes), as well as performing and supervising surgery. I also helped develop materials for a local audience about ROP screening.
Preventable blindness is a cause close to your heart. Are we making progress to close treatment gaps in New Zealand? How about globally?
We’re making progress in New Zealand but gaps remain, especially among children from underserved communities, such as Māori, Pasifika, those with developmental delay, and those with allergic eye disease. These children often miss early diagnosis, despite having treatable conditions like refractive error, amblyopia or keratoconus.
Globally, organisations like Sight For All are doing vital work to build sustainable eye care systems. The challenges are often more structural, such as late presentations, limited local training, and gaps in continuity of care. However the direction is promising when we invest in empowering and upskilling local clinicians.
If you could encourage New Zealanders to take one action to decrease rates of preventable blindness, what would it be?
Make vision screening a normal part of childhood. Whether it’s a preschool check, school entry vision test, or asking about symptoms like eye rubbing or squinting – early detection changes everything. Many eye conditions are invisible until it’s too late.
Two of your great loves are paediatric care and the cornea, which came together in a presentation at the APSPOS Congress in Brisbane after your work in Laos. How did it go?
I spoke about keratoconus in children with Down syndrome. Keratoconus is a progressive weakening and distortion of the cornea which is relatively common in New Zealand. Studies suggest at least 15% of people with Down syndrome may have keratoconus, yet many are only diagnosed after significant vision loss.
My presentation called for a paradigm shift, moving from late diagnosis and surgical rescue to early screening, prevention of progression, and timely intervention. That includes a corneal cross-linking procedure for sufferers before scarring occurs.
With the right awareness and tools, and by collaborating with optometrists and GPs, we can avoid poor vision and the eventual need for corneal transplantation.
The response was very encouraging, and I hope it contributes to more inclusive eye care policy and practice across the Asia-Pacific region. The session was so well attended, it was standing room only!
About Sight For All
Sight for All is a non-profit organisation born out of Adelaide, with the aim of helping prevent blindness in the developing world. It was established in 2009 by Dr James Muecke AM, Prof Robert Casson and A/Prof Henry Newland, after an epidemiological study in Myanmar unveiled the extent of treatable blindness in the region. It has since run or is currently running eye health projects in Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
