He will visit cataract patients who have benefited from the foundation’s support, and hold talks with VNIO leaders.

McMullan will also attend the opening ceremony of a Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF) Center in Hanoi that aims to help improve Vietnam’s health management information systems.

The visit of McMullan is clear evidence of the Australia’s commitment to support Vietnam in reducing cataract-induced blindness, the foundation said.

McMullan is on a four-day visit to Vietnam, ending tomorrow, to facilitate aid, including support to construct the Cao Lanh Bridge in the Mekong Delta’s Dong Thap Province and a project of the Vietnam Women’s Union that targets HIV positive women and children.

Since 2006, FHF has joined Thanh Nien’s “Sight for life” programs that offers free operations for poor cataract patients, with a donation of 1,200 artificial lenses and VND480 million so far.

FHF and VNIO have also provided community eye care services in 12 provinces, including Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue city, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Dak Lak, Vinh Long, Thai Binh and Hai Duong.

The foundation has provided VNIO with essential ophthalmic equipment and 50,000 artificial lenses over the past five years. It has also supported the publication of the Vietnamese Journal of Opthalmology produced by VNIO, annual scientific conferences and glaucoma research.

The 2007 national Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness situation (RAAB) in Vietnam reported that the prevalence of blindness in people aged 50 and over had decreased to 3.1 percent from 4.7 percent (reported in the national survey in 2000-2002).

However, nearly 386,000 people aged 50 and over are blind, 1,660,000 people are living with low vision, and cataract is the leading cause of blindness in more than 66 percent of the cases.

Reported by Giang An