Lions Lines
with Roger Brooke

THE Palmwoods Woombye Lions Club will be involved in the establishment of a Low Vision Clinic at the Nambour Hospital.

The Lions District in which the Palmwoods Woombye Lions Club operates covers a vast area of Queensland and Low Vision Clinics have already been established at Rockhampton and Bundaberg hospitals.

The good news is that the next is to be Nambour.

There are many causes of blindness, some preventable and some non-preventable. Lion’s international already has a world wide project called `Sightfirst’ which aims to eliminate preventable blindness.

Examples of causes of preventable blindness include glaucoma, diabetes, trachoma, vitamin deficiencies and river blindness.

The major cause of non preventable blindness is age related degeneration. This occurs when the retina degenerates with age.

The condition is not amenable to surgery, drops, or laser treatments, and the prevalence of this condition increases with the age.

With the ageing population in Australia this condition is going to increase.

The function of a Lion’s Low Vision Clinic is to help people overcome their visual disability by assisting them to use their remaining sight, developing the use of other senses to reinforce their remaining sight, to organise special help with domestic, recreational and mobility problems, and to provide low vision aid.

The Lions’ main project for August has been the upgrading of the small kitchen at the riding for disabled (RDA) club room in Hunchy Road, Palmwoods.

The Lions built this facility in 1982 and have supported the RDA in numerous ways over the years. The RDA provides a tremendous service and the Lions pay tribute to Hazel Larard for her leadership over the years.