Achievements

According to national statistics, more than 100,000 cataract operations are performed in
Vietnam each year, compared to 100 annual operations when The Fred Hollows Foundation first began working in the country in 1993.

The Vietnam Blindness Prevention Program is focused in ten provinces within the central, southern and central highlands regions of Vietnam covering a population of over 18 million, of which approximately 1.23% people are blind. The Program works with partners at national and provincial levels to deliver tertiary, secondary and primary eye care.

The Foundation has helped to build the capacity of national and local eye health authorities to plan, manage and monitor eye care programs, which is helping to sustain eye care in Vietnam.

The Vietnam Blindness Prevention Program has made significant progress and achievements
since its inception. Recent achievements include:

• The local government has recognised the importance of eye care in Vietnam and has contributed 10% to project costs
• 45 district hospitals have now participated in the program
• Medical equipment has been donated to hospitals in the program areas
• Eye health facilities have been upgraded and equipped with appropriate medical equipment, which has increased the quality and quantity of eye care services at these facilities
• A Cataract Surgery Outcomes Monitoring (CSOM) system is fully functioning in four provinces to monitor the quality of cataract surgery
• Public knowledge and awareness of primary eye care has increased through production of health education materials, television and radio coverage as well as production of community drama on eye health related topics.

The Vietnam Blindness Prevention Program's activities in six provinces of the central region and in one province in the southern region included the following achievements in 2006: 

• 12,425 cataract operations, subsidised by The Fred Hollows Foundation, were performed in the seven provinces
• 5, 139 other sight saving interventions supported by The Foundation
• 46,321 school children received eye examinations of which 3,494 have been diagnosed with low vision and 237 refractive error and received spectacles
• 21 surgeons and 53 support staff received clinical training
• 1,658 village health workers received training in Primary Eye Care (PEC) to ensure that patients in villages are properly identified, screened and referred to the relevant level of the health system for treatment
• US$420,089 worth of medical equipment has been donated to hospitals in the program areas
• Five eye health facilities upgraded and equipped
• Funding was secured to expand the program to Thua Thien Hue, Quang Ngai and Dak Lak provinces in 2007.