A child receives an eye examination. Around 23,000 children suffer blindness nationwide, but, with timely treatment, 50 per cent of cases could be prevented. — VNS File Photo |
The implementation of the plan was discussed with doctors from preventive health centres and school authorities at a meeting on Monday.
The project, worth VND3.8 billion (US$213,000), which will be partially funded by Australia's Fred Hollows Foundation, will focus on refractive error, which causes far-sightedness and short sight.
Teams will be set up to treat the condition at preventive health centres and hospitals in six remote districts – Binh Tan, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, 8, 9, and 12.
Dissemination of information on the condition would be strengthened, Dr Tran Thi Phuong Thu, head of the HCM City Eye Hospital said.
The hospital would also assist schools in these districts to take care of eyes for their students.
Knowledge about preventing eye diseases could prevent and effectively treat 75 per cent of all cases of blindness in Viet Nam, she added.
A 2008 report by the Viet Nam Institute of Educational Sciences showed that the rate of school students with refractive errors was 74.82 per cent.
According to the Viet Nam National Eye Hospital in Ha Noi, there are around 23,000 blind children in the country, but with timely treatment, 50 per cent of the cases could have been prevented.
There are 3 million children aged under 16 with refractive errors.
A national-level campaign to prevent blindness began early this year and seeks to reduce the rate of blindness from more than 0.4 per cent to below 0.3 per cent by 2020.
Most provinces and cities have set up standing boards under the campaign and trained nearly 100 opthalmologists and 2,000 health workers in all.
Around 1,000 people had cataract surgery under the campaign.
Yet another campaign, this one to encourage people to donate corneas, is under way in 10 provinces and cities. It has managed to sign up more than 30,000 people for cornea donation.
"Around 300,000 people suffering from visual impairment due to cornea-related conditions are waiting for operations," Nguyen Huu Hoang, deputy head of the Viet Nam National Eye Hospital's eye bank, said.
Asso Prof Dr Do Nhu Hon, Hoang's boss, said the target of reducing the blindness rate to 0.3 per cent in 2020 could be achieved if blindness prevention methods were implemented simultaneously around the country. — VNS
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