The Hanoi Department of Health in coordination with Helen KellerInternational (HKI) will provide eye check-ups for some 10,000 peopleaged 45 or more in the capital city’s Quoc Oai district from now toSeptember 2015.
The department said the activity is part of a HKIproject entitled “Establishing vision entrepreneurs through communitybased eye care system in rural communities of Hanoi ”. The project,funded by Grand Challenges Canada, is the first of its kind to bepiloted in Vietnam .
In this project, HKI will traincollaborators in doing basic visual acuity screening and conductcommunication activities to raise public awareness of the issue.
It is also expected to give financial support to some 4,000 people to buy qualified eyeglasses.
Presbyopia is a significant cause of avoidable visual impairment for those of old age.
Statisticsshow that about one billion people in the world suffer from visionimpairment due to uncorrected presbyopia and 98 percent of them live inless developed countries.
Up to 74 percent ofpresbyopia sufferers in Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam ,are yet to wear suitable spectacles.
HKI is an internationalnon-governmental organisation with the mission of saving the sight andlives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged by combating the causesand consequences of blindness and malnutrition.-VNA