People living in the provinces of Ba Ria–Vung Tau, Quang Nam and Thanh Hoa are benefiting from the Vietnam-Australia Vision Support Programme (VAVSP), which aims to open up more opportunities for local residents to access eye care services.

In its second year of implementation, the project has supported these three provinces develop anti-blindness plans and select various eye care services, said a report announced at a conference held in Vung Tau city on July 19 to review how the project has panned out.

In the central province of Quang Nam, the project has helped the districts of Que Son, Duy Xuyen, Hiep Duc and Tien Phuoc establish eye care centres and assist them with eye treatment.

Meanwhile, nearly 600 pupils with eye refractive defects and 450 disabled people in the central province of Thanh Hoa received check-ups and treatment. Around 1,100 people were provided with a chance to join eye care training courses.

The southern province of Ba Ria–Vung Tau also benefited from the project with three similar centres set up in Xuyen Moc and Dat Do districts and the provincial Eye Centre. It also helped 30,400 locals, including 26,000 pupils, access eye examinations.

The project has been conducted by the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and other non-governmental organisations of the three provinces since June 2012.-VNA