Illustrative photo (Photo: healthplus.vn) Quang Nam (VNA) – As many as 500 policy beneficiaries and poor people in the central province of Quang Nam received free cataract surgeries at the provincial General Hospital on June 18.
The programme was jointly held by the National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO), the Vietnam Youth Federation and the Vietnamese Young Doctors Association as part of the activities to mark the 70th anniversary of Vietnam War Invalids and Martyrs’ Day (July 27).
The operations were carried out in a mobile eye surgery coach, which is equipped with modern eye examination devices and equipment like ophthalmic ultrasound scanner and ophthalmology surgery microscope.
VNIO Director Dr Nguyen Xuan Hiep said Quang Nam province has a high rate of blindness caused by cataract. The mobile cataract surgery campaign would make significant contributions to bringing light to the blind in the locality, he said.
The VNIO’s statistics show that 70 percent of Vietnamese in rural areas and poor people have eye-related diseases but they could hardly get access to healthcare services. The mobile cataract surgery campaign, launched in 2007, has improved eye care for tens of thousands of patients in impoverished regions.-VNA
VNA
