The information was given by Prof. Bruce Moore from New England College of Optometry at a seminar on eye diseases in Hanoi on Monday.

Associate Prof. Dr. Pham Trong Van from Hanoi Medical University said that roughly 14-36 million people in Vietnam suffer from refraction, accounting for 15-40% of the country’s total population. It is estimated that some 3 million local children contract amblyopia. 

Around 15-20% of Vietnamese children aged between 3 and 5 suffer from eye diseases

According to Prof. Bruce Moore, amblyopia would slow down children’s development. If detected early, the treatment will be very effective, Moore said.

At the recent national forum on blind prevention, refraction is considered to be among priorities in Vietnam’s national plan on blindness prevention and control in the 2014-2020 period.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is facing the shortage of qualified medical staff in eye care. A survey on assessing on refraction service quality in Vietnam jointly conducted by Brien Holden Vision Institute, the Fred Hollows Foundation, the Central Eye Hospital and University of New South Wales indicated that, up to 65% of glasses prescribed for patients at glass stores are not qualified as due to the staff’s limited capacity in eye disease diagnosis.

Associate Prof. Dr. Pham Trong Van added so that how to ensure enough qualified eye doctors is among major factors to help Vietnam to address cataracts which account for up to 60% of causes blinding people aged over 50.

To help improve the problem, Brien Holden Vision Institute has co-operated with the Central Eye Hospital and HCM City Eye Hospital to provide short-term training courses on refraction for medical staff.