Spreading love from eye care to people in flood-affected areas

More than 600 students and people in flood-affected areas in Thai Nguyen received love and shared experiences when receiving free eye exams and community eye health care knowledge.

On October 24, the medical team of Hanoi Eye Hospital 2 organized a voluntary eye examination program for more than 600 students and residents at Dao Xa Primary School (Tan Khanh commune, Thai Nguyen province).

More than 10 days ago, people in Tan Khanh commune - the area along Cau river - were severely affected by flooding caused by storms and floods. Now, the people here receive dedicated care from doctors with the concern and sharing of love from the community.

Timely sharing of doctors and nurses

With the message “Giving light - Spreading love,” the program is part of a series of eye care activities for schools and communities in disadvantaged areas affected by natural disasters of the hospital.

From early morning, students sit neatly and orderly in the school yard waiting for their turn to have their eyes examined and cared for by doctors.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Que - Principal of Dao Xa Primary School said that more than 10 days ago, the entire school and residential area in the commune was covered in a scene of immense flood water. Many houses were flooded up to the first floor and were isolated. The whole school had 136 students whose houses were flooded, their books were swept away and their families suffered a lot of property damage after the flood.

“There are 14 students whose houses were swept away and had nothing left, but we still encouraged them to go back to school. Their books and school supplies were received from community support and teachers’ bookcases,” Ms. Nguyen Thi Que shared.

When examining the eyes of students, there was a special case of a 5th grade boy whose eyes were found to be 10 degrees nearsighted, which surprised the doctors. Even when the light was shined on his eyes, his eyes did not respond. Meanwhile, his other eye looked normal. The boy did not wear glasses. Therefore, when asked by the doctor, he replied: "I see clearly" so neither his family nor his teachers noticed.

After that, the doctor examined and the working group notified the school and contacted the child's parents to advise on effective treatment for the child in the future.

Doctor Dam Duc Long examines a boy with 10 degrees of nearsightedness. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

Another case is Nguyen Bao Nh., a first grader, whose vision test result was only 2/10, having both astigmatism and farsightedness. Nh. said he had never had an eye exam before. After the program, the doctors advised him to have a thorough eye exam to get timely eye treatment.

Not only students, many people also came to visit the voluntary eye examination program of Hanoi Eye Hospital 2.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Canh - Deputy Head of the Parents' Association of Dao Xa Primary School expressed her excitement when doctors came to the commune to examine the eyes of all the children and provide free medicine, I am very happy.

Ms. Canh explained that after the flood, the water source was polluted, making children susceptible to eye pain and dermatitis. The hospital's free eye examinations for students and people in the commune were meaningful when receiving the attention and sharing of the community, and she hoped that there would be more programs like this to further support students and people in remote and flooded areas.

Warm hearts of flood victims

The free eye examination program of Hanoi Eye Hospital 2 is like a precious spiritual gift for teachers and students of Dao Xa Primary School. Upon receiving the information that a group of doctors would come to the school to examine the eyes of students and teachers, everyone was excited and touched.

At the program, everyone who comes for examination will have their refraction measured automatically by doctors to assess their refraction before examination, measure their old glasses (if any), have their refraction examined, have their eyes examined with a microscope/prescription issued, receive information cards, get advice on medication use and eye care, receive free medication and free glasses for those who need to wear glasses.

Doctors examine eyes of people in Tan Khanh commune. (Photo: PV/Vietnam+)

Doctor Dam Duc Long - Specialist I (Hanoi Eye Hospital 2) said that the working group brought to Tan Khanh commune nearly 80% of the specialized examination equipment commonly used in the hospital, such as automatic refraction machines, fundus cameras, eye pressure measuring machines... For the hospital, the first motto is to serve wholeheartedly, bringing all the best equipment possible to best serve the examination and screening work for students, teachers and people.

Through screening, the team found that 30-40% of students had refractive problems, and more than 10% showed signs of eye infection. During the examination, the team of doctors advised teachers and parents on nutrition and eye hygiene, and provided free glasses and medication for mild cases. For more severe cases, the hospital will provide in-depth examination support.

Mr. Le Xuan Duc - Deputy Director of Hanoi Eye Hospital 2 shared: "At each school, we found that the parameters given were very alarming, especially the refractive error condition. Therefore, the purpose of the voluntary examination program is to help parents realize the importance of eye care for their children, especially at primary and secondary school age, and to provide and popularize eye knowledge to the community."

According to Mr. Duc, the program is not only a voluntary medical examination activity but also has a profound humanitarian meaning, contributing to raising awareness of eye health care for students, helping students in flood-affected areas to soon stabilize their studies.

This is one of the activities in the series of humanitarian medical examination and treatment programs that the Hospital organizes periodically, the most recent being on October 11-12, at Hai Quang Primary School ( Ninh Binh )./.

(Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/lan-toa-tinh-yeu-thuong-tu-cham-soc-doi-mat-cho-nguoi-dan-vung-lu-post1072614.vnp