Vietnam Ophthalmology Institute, Orbis Cooperate in Fighting Children Blindness

Orbis, a leading global non-governmental organization (NGO) that works to eliminate avoidable blindness, is working with Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO) to hold a two-week national ophthalmic training program known as “Hanoi Flying Eye Hospital” (Hanoi FEH) in Hanoi from May 25 to June 5. The NGO cited the 2007 Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) study as saying that Vietnam has three million children with impaired vision and 23,000 of them suffer from bilateral blindness. Vietnam is estimated to have the fourth highest rate of blind children in Asia, Orbis officials noted. The Hanoi FEH program aims to strengthen the surgical skills of ophthalmologists and enhance the capacity of eye care services provided by VNIO, especially in pediatric ophthalmology. In particular, the program focuses on advancing hands-on and participant level skills in the areas of cornea, medical and surgical retina, orthoptics, oculoplastics and conditions affecting children, including strabismus and glaucoma. The program also provides hands-on training to nurses and other healthcare professionals in the areas of pediatric nursing, quality assurance and management, safe pediatric anesthesia and medical equipment management. Although significant progress has been made in recent years to address the avoidable blindness problems in adults, there is still inadequate coverage of pediatric eye care services in rural districts in Vietnam. The program is part of the five-year project started in 2013 known as "Strengthening the Capacity of National Institute of Ophthalmology to Improve Pediatric Eye Health in Vietnam," which will run through December 2017 in Hanoi. (Hanoi Moi – New Hanoi May 27 p5, prnewswire May 26)