Nearly 50,000 people will be given free eye checks, consultancy and surgery in the largest charity vision programme to be held on World Sight Day on October 14 in Ha Noi.
The programme, organised by the Ha Noi Eye Hospital and the Fred Hollow Foundation, will run in Ha Noi until the end of October.

Teams of eye doctors will travel to outlying districts and schools to provide eye examinations and cataract operations.

An estimated 9,000 people aged over 50 in the districts of Soc Son, Ba Vi and Thanh Tri will benefit from the programme.

An additional 25,000 students at 54 primary and secondary schools in Dong Anh District and 1,000 others in Hoan Kiem and Hai Ba Trung inner districts will also receive eye care.

Last month, the programme provided check-ups to more than 13,000 people, mostly elderly and students.

"Blindness prevention is the responsibility of the community and society. On this occasion, we call on volunteers to be involved in blindness prevention," said Vu Thi Thanh, the hospital's director.

According to health sector statistics, there are about 2 million blind people in the country. Two-thirds of these cannot afford treatment or do not know they could have their vision restored. The main causes of blindness are cataracts (66 per cent), glaucoma (6.5 per cent), refraction deformation and trachoma.

There are about 33,000 blind people in Ha Noi, 0.5 per cent of the country's population. An estimated 30 per cent of these are treatable. — VNS

Cornea donation programme launched
DA NANG — The Viet Nam Red Cross plans to launch a cornea donation programme next Tuesday in central Da Nang City on the occasion of World Sight Day on October 14.

The programme will also be carried out in 10 provinces and cities to attract about 3,200 donors.

There are about 30,000 registered cornea donors in the country. However, about 1.8 million people are blind or partially sighted and in need of a cornea transplant.

From Vietnamnews