Vietnam currently has about 2 million blind and visually impaired people.

More than 80% of blind people in Vietnam can be prevented and cured.

"Prioritizing child eye care" was chosen by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the theme of this year's World Sight Day.

In response to World Sight Day (Thursday of the second week of October), the Central Eye Hospital (Hanoi) calls on the community to raise awareness and join hands with the eye industry to care for and protect eyes, especially common eye diseases in children.

According to the Central Eye Hospital, Vietnam currently has approximately 2 million people who are blind or have poor vision. About one-third of them are poor and face difficulties in receiving treatment. More than 80% of blindness in Vietnam is preventable and treatable. Current investigations show that the main causes of blindness are cataracts (accounting for 66.1%), followed by retinal diseases, glaucoma, refractive errors, etc.

Children need to be prevented and detected refractive errors early to receive appropriate care and treatment.

By 2030, Vietnam strives to reduce the rate of blindness to less than 4 people/1,000 people, including reducing the rate of blindness in people over 50 years old to less than 12 people/1,000 people; the rate of cataract surgery is 95%; the rate of diabetic patients being examined and monitored for eye diseases is 75%. For children, the rate of refractive errors in school children being examined, detected early, provided with refractive services and refractive error correction glasses is over 75%. At the same time, consolidate and perfect the network of eye care services, ensuring equal access among subjects (children, women, the elderly, people with disabilities).

About 3 million children have refractive errors

Dr. Nguyen Hoang Cuong from the Central Eye Hospital stated that the development of modern ophthalmology technology has made early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of eye diseases increasingly effective. He also noted that eye diseases are becoming more diverse and complex, especially those affecting children: refractive errors, amblyopia, and congenital conditions such as retinal tumors, strabismus, ptosis, congenital cataracts, and retinopathy of prematurity…

According to the Central Eye Hospital, refractive errors (myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism) are becoming increasingly common among teenagers, with prevalence rates of approximately 15-20% in rural areas and 30-40% in urban areas. Specifically for children aged 6-15 (the age group requiring priority corrective lenses), there are nearly 15 million children nationwide. With a prevalence rate of approximately 20%, it is estimated that 3 million children in Vietnam have refractive errors requiring corrective lenses, of which up to two-thirds are myopic.

According to Dr. Nguyen Hoang Cuong, refractive errors cause difficulties in studying and living. Because they cannot see clearly, children also have difficulty understanding lessons and absorbing knowledge, which can lead to a decline in learning results. If left untreated for a long time, it can cause lazy eye disease, vision loss, and difficulty in treatment. Examining and providing glasses for children with refractive errors is one of the lowest-cost but highly effective interventions to reduce the rate of blindness.

"Controlling the causes of blindness in children requires special attention to congenital cataracts, refractive errors, retinopathy of prematurity, and subclinical vitamin A deficiency," Dr. Nguyen Hoang Cuong further shared.

There are currently about 314 million blind and low vision people in the world, of which about 45 million are blind, people over 50 years old account for 80%. Every 5 seconds, the world has 1 more person go blind, and every 1 minute, the world has 1 more child go blind. 90% of blind people live in poor and developing countries with difficult access to health services (Vietnam is in this group of countries). 80% of the causes of blindness can be treated or prevented.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/viet-nam-hien-co-khoang-2-trieu-nguoi-mu-va-thi-luc-kem-18524101220413385.htm