Around 1,500 children from 68 schools in the districts of Xuyen Moc and Dat Do will receive free glasses while the project will also provide eye care training courses for 1,814 teachers and 68 eyecare workers.
The project is part of the Vietnam Australia Vision Support Program which is a component of a AUD45 million(US$47million) project between the Australian Agency for International Development and the Avoidable Blindness Initiative to reduce incidents of and improve quality of life for people with vision impairment and blindness in South East Asia and the Western Pacific Region.
Nguyen Viet Giap, director of the provincial eye centre, said they have a high rate of blindness for people over 50, while many school children are not aware of impaired vision.
May Ho, ICEE Programme Manager for Vietnam said "about nine million people in Vietnam are affected by eye problems, but access to eye care is difficult for those living in rural and remote areas."
In 2008, the ICEE began working with the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology to provide optometry training for local medical workers.
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