Eye care in rural communities in Viet Nam

Since 2000, ORBIS has been supporting projects for the prevention and control of blindness in Viet Nam to solve blindness burden estimated at 0.63% of the population according to the last survey done in 2000. Although the country is developing and poor but the survey showed that inaffordability is not the leading cause for the blind to have access to eye care and poor outcome of cataract surgeries was due to surgical complications. The leading cause is unawareness. Thus ORBIS began supporting an eye care project in Phu Tho-a poor mountainous province in Viet Nam. The project was learning for ORBIS in order to draw lessons and experience to expand its support to other provinces and other fields of eye care in Viet Nam.