The eye health challenge in Vietnam
Access to care is uneven
People in rural and remote communities can face distance, cost and limited local services.
Cost can be a barrier
Travel, treatment and time away from work can make eye care difficult to access.
There are workforce gaps
More trained eye health professionals are needed to provide quality care across the country.
Some communities face greater barriers
Ethnic minorities, women, children and people living with disability can face additional challenges accessing care.
How we’re improving eye health in Vietnam
The Fred Hollows Foundation works with local partners to strengthen the eye health system, rather than simply delivering individual treatments.
Our work has included:
- Training eye health professionals in cataract surgery and other essential skills.
- Providing equipment and supporting eye health infrastructure.
- Improving access to cataract and refractive error services.
- Strengthening early detection and treatment of diabetic eye disease.
- Supporting efforts to eliminate trachoma.
- Improving access to eye care for people who can face additional barriers, including ethnic minorities, remote communities, women, children and people living with disability.
Over more than three decades, these partnerships have helped build local skills, services and systems that can continue to improve eye health for generations.
Our impact in Vietnam
The Fred Hollows Foundation has supported the Vietnamese Government to strengthen eye health services across 20 provinces. We have also supported the training of eye health workers, provided essential equipment and helped strengthen eye health infrastructure.
102,000+
Cataract surgeries supported
1,000+
Eye surgeons trained
20
Provinces supported through comprehensive eye health programs
From two surgeons to a national eye health workforce
When Professor Fred Hollows first visited Vietnam in 1992, only two Vietnamese eye surgeons were performing modern cataract surgery, completing around 50 surgeries nationally each year.
Fred returned later that year with a team of ophthalmologists supported by the Australian Aid program. He helped deliver a training course for more than 300 Vietnamese surgeons, sharing modern cataract surgery techniques.
Fred died before he could fulfil his promise to provide surgical equipment and supplies. The Foundation continued his work, helping strengthen Vietnam’s eye health system and train more than 1,000 surgeons.
Today, around 250,000 cataract surgeries are performed in Vietnam each year.
Fred's vision was simple: everyone should have access to the eye care they need, wherever they live.
Step inside Phu Yen Eye Hospital
In the early 1990s, Vietnam had just two cataract surgeons trained in modern surgery techniques. Today, more than 250,000 cataract surgeries are performed each year — and access to eye care is nearly universal. Take a look inside Phu Yen Eye Hospital with Dr Nhi and Dr Phuc to see how long-term partnership, local leadership and your support made it possible.
The boy behind the iconic photo
In 1992, seven-year-old Giap travelled with his father to meet Fred Hollows, hoping for treatment that could restore his sight. Fred helped arrange the operation Giap needed, changing the course of his life.
Today, Giap is a teacher. He says meeting Fred inspired him to become a better person for society, and his story remains one of the most enduring examples of Fred’s impact in Vietnam.
Looking ahead
The Foundation continues to work with partners in Vietnam to improve the quality and accessibility of eye care.
Our priorities include:
- Making effective cataract treatment accessible to more people
- Improving prevention and treatment of refractive error
- Strengthening the prevention and early detection of diabetic retinopathy
- Supporting the elimination of trachoma
- Improving access to eye care for communities that can face additional barriers to care
The Foundation acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) within the Vietnam program.
In 2025, The Foundation and its partners made great progress in key strategic areas in East Asia:
1,217,027
People screened.
118,776
Eye operations and treatments performed including cataract operations, surgeries to treat trachoma, diabetic retinopathy treatments and other sight saving or improving interventions.
53,634
Pairs of glasses distributed.
10,955
People trained including community health workers, surgeons, clinic support staff and teachers.
498,227
School children and community members educated in eye health and sanitation.
438
Facilities built, equipped or renovated.
The countries in Asia that The Foundation works in are Lao PDR, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines and Indonesia.
Learn more about our work in Vietnam
Bringing brighter futures to children in Phu Yen
A witness to Fred Hollows’ legacy in Vietnam
Eye disease trachoma eliminated in Vietnam
