Illustrative image. (Photo: baria-vungtau.gov.vn) Ba Ria-Vung Tau (VNA) – The Australia-based Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) has announced it will continue to fund a vision care support project at schools in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.
Huynh Phuong Ly, BHVI Vietnam Country Representative, made the announcement at the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Eye Hospital’s 10 th anniversary celebration on February 27.
Under the support of the BHVI, the hospital has provided eye examinations for 80,000 students and given more than 7,000 free pairs of glasses to those from difficult backgrounds since 2011.
The project has also provided high-quality, affordable eye tests and glasses for tens of thousands of people across the province.
The Ba Ria-Vung Tau Eye Hospital was founded in February 2006 with only nine ophthalmologists and nurses, and limited medical facilities.
The hospital, which today has 80 beds, has been upgraded to a level 2 specialised hospital by the Ministry of Health. It offered medical check-ups for 44,600 people in 2015, compared with 9,700 in 2006.
It has provided free eye surgery to approximately 5,000 impoverished people, and organised hundreds of seminars and talks on vision care in the province.
Thanks to such efforts, the number of blind people in the province fell to 2.2 percent last year from 3.01 percent in 2007.-VNA
