About 3 million out of 22.7 million Vietnamese children are facing weak eyesight, while 23,000 of them suffer from bilateral blindness, representing the fourth highest rate in the Asian region.

The figures are announced at the ceremony to launch the Flying Eye Hospital (FEH) programme, conducted by the Orbis organisation and the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport on May 26.

The FEH is conducting a 2-week training course for 130 medical personnel, along with free check-ups and treatment for more than 160 patients with eyesight problems from May 25 to June 5.

The FEH earlier launched training courses and eye check-ups in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.

Orbis, an NGO dedicated to vision treatment worldwide since 1982, has been working in Vietnam since 2000 and has helped establish five eye care centres for children in Hanoi, Hue, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Dinh.-VNA