On dated 8th November 2018, Country Vietnam trains their first optometrist graduates for the first time ever. The first optometry school in Vietnam has finally trained optometrists for the first time in the country. There were 12 optometrists previously working in the country. The previously working optometrist of the country was from over-seas and the newly graduated team of optometrists will join the previous team to help in curing blindness in the country. In 2013, there were only 3 optometrists in the whole country. The population of Vietnam was 90 Million in 2013.
IAPB says, “The global need for vision correction has created disability and a poverty-inducing health care crisis worldwide. There are an estimated 21 million Vietnamese people requiring eye care services who do not have access to seeing an optometrist, having their eyes examined or receiving glasses.”
According to WHO’s recommendation, by 2020, Vietnam needs at least one optometrist for every 50,000 people. The graduation today is the culmination of a ten-year strategy collaboratively supported by the University of Medicine Pham Ngoc Thach (UPNT), Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital, the Vietnamese and Australian Governments and international NGO Brien Holden Vision Institute (the Institute).
There will be more than 250 qualified optometrists to serve the growing population by 2020
Source: IAPB
