A woman has her vision tested at Binh Thanh District Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

Most opticians in the country are unqualified to sell medical glasses and prescribe glasses for shortsightedness or long-sightedness, eye doctors warn.

She says around 20 percent of children diagnosed with short sightedness actually suffer from false nearsightedness.

But “most eye glass stores leave out this check to save time.”

Many shops in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang City use scales and refraction equipment to test customers’ vision. Thuy says “these are not enough.”

She says children with false nearsightedness don’t need glasses and will regain their vision after using medicine and taking care of their eyes the right way.

Do Nhu Hon, director of the institute, says adults can also suffer false nearsightedness.

Adults might not need checking with chemicals but the examiners then must be skilled and well-equipped.

Hanoi resident Pham Thu Hanh says many reading glasses shops that she had approached could not help her know if she had any other eye disease, or even how to take proper care of her eyes.

“I feel the shops just try to test how near or farsighted customers are for the purpose of selling glasses.”

Almost all the 20,000 shops nationwide advertise nearsighted, farsighted and astigmatic glasses.

But the Department of Medical Equipment and Construction under the Ministry of Health has found that only 20 percent of those shops are qualified to sell prescription glasses.

Thuy says she has met several children wearing reading glasses whose vision will get worse because the lenses have not been installed properly.

Several shops in Hanoi don’t bother to test the vision of elders but prescribe long-sight glasses of +0.5 diopters if the customers are around 45 and +1 diopter for those aged 50 and above.

Doctors caution that weaker vision can be caused by diabetes, tumors or other medicine that people are using.

Reported by Hong Minh – Nam Son