Cataract Disease On Increase In Vietnam

HANOI, Aug 2 (Bernama) -- An additional 170,000 Vietnamese have been diagnosed with cataract-related eye diseases each year, the Vietnam news agency quoted a report as saying.

The Central Eye Hospital's recent survey shows that cataracts are still the leading cause of blindness in Vietnam, which currently has 251,700 blind people.

Speaking at the conference, co-organised by the Ministry of Public Health (MoH) and the U.S.'s Atlantic Philanthropies organisation, MoH Deputy Minister Nguyen Thi Xuyen said it is extremely necessary for Vietnam to build a national blindness prevention plan to quickly reduce its blindness rate and develop methods of treatment.

Xuyen, who is also Head of the National Steering Committee on Blindness Prevention, praised the Central Eyes Hospital's efforts in blindness prevention over the past years. The three-day conference also offers an opportunity for Vietnamese experts to learn from foreign colleagues' experiences in order to build a high-quality and appropriate national blindness prevention plan.

There are around 37 million blind people and 110 million others with poor eyesight in the world.

-- BERNAMA