With The Foundation's support, 183 essential eye surgeries and treatments were performed on children in Vietnam.

As a result of recent screenings in the country’s central and southern provinces, 124 operations and treatments for children from Binh Dinh and 59 treatments for children from Phu Yen were performed in eye hospitals recently built or upgraded with funding from The Foundation and our partner The Atlantic Philanthropies.

These latest figures show a marked increase in the number of children in the region who received eye surgery or treatment, compared with 120 procedures for children last year.

The children were treated as part of the Sight For Children program, which operates in Phu Yen and Binh Dinh provinces. This initiative represents a significant proportion of the childhood blindness work supported by The Foundation in Vietnam.

Providing paediatric training to local eye doctors is key to eliminating childhood blindness in the country. Ophthalmologists need special training to operate on children, as their eyes are not only smaller than adults, but are structurally different.

Over the past six years, 835 operations and treatments for children have been performed by local doctors in these provinces. Children and their families no longer have to make the expensive and arduous journey to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City to be treated.

Find out more about The Foundation's work in Vietnam.