Country Statement
With a population of nearly 100 million, Vietnam is the 15th most populous country in the world. According to the most recent RAAB study conducted in 2015, cataracts cause 74% of blindness in people aged 50 and over in Vietnam. In 2015, more than 400,000 people were blind, and 1.3 million were visually impaired due to cataracts. Uncorrected refractive error accounts for 10% of all visual impairment in people aged 50 and over. Among urban school children aged 6-15 years, 25-40% have refractive errors, but only 33.5% of those children have glasses, and only 40% of those glasses are likely to be the correct prescription.
Approximately 6% of people aged 20-79 years in Vietnam have diabetes, equating to about 3.5 million adults. Due to a lack of research, the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among people with diabetes is unknown, but global estimates suggest that about one-third of people with diabetes have some degree of diabetic retinopathy.
The prevalence of trachoma in Vietnam has gradually declined over the last 50 years due to efforts by the Ministry of Health and their partners. Since 1996, over 282,000 trichiasis surgeries have been completed in Vietnam. The country is now nearing the elimination of trachoma, with only 170,000 people living in areas where trachoma is still considered a public health risk.
| Population (in million) | 98 (World Bank, 2021) |
| Blindness (crude) | 1.8% (RAAB, 2015) |
| All vision loss (crude) | 14.20% (IAPB) |
| Prevalence of childhood blindness | 7.6 per 10,000 children in 16 provinces (Limberg et al 2010) |
| Prevalence of vision impairment (presenting visual acuity ≤6/12 in the better eye) in school children aged 12-15 years | 12.2% (Paudel et al 2014 RESC study) (prevalence of myopia; 20.4%) |
Program Highlights
Workforce development and education
The optometry program is the result of a ten-year plan to introduce optometry to Vietnam, aiming to reduce the burden of uncorrected refractive errors in line with the Vietnamese National Strategic Eye Health Plan. It is a joint initiative between the Brien Holden Foundation, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (UPNT), and the Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital.
In 2014-2015, the optometry education program at Hanoi Medical University (HMU) and Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine was approved by the Vietnamese government. The development of qualified optometrists will significantly contribute to meeting Vietnam’s vision care needs. Optometrists help relieve ophthalmologists from managing basic and common eye conditions, allowing them to focus on medical and surgical treatments. Training skilled optometrists will increase the efficiency of eye care services in Vietnam and improve the health system’s cost-effectiveness.
Child Eye Health (CEH)
The trained optometrists and eye health workers in the project areas become skilled eye health personnel who can provide high-quality eye care for children. The Foundation collaborated with Hanoi Medical University in the North, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine in the South, and Ba Ria Vung Tau Provincial Eye Hospital in the Southeast of Vietnam to deliver comprehensive eye care for children. This includes school vision screening programs for thousands of children, establishing a referral system for further treatment of eye problems, training about 1,000 teachers annually in primary eye care, and conducting eye care promotion campaigns.
Advocacy and agency
We actively take part in various activities/programs to advocate for Vietnam eye health strategic plans approved by the government, school eye health integrated into school health program, especially the official recognition of 1st time ever the optometry education and optometrists’ profession, bringing the new cadre in eye care to Vietnamese population.