VIETNAM

In 2014, Sight For All trained a Vietnamese Optometrist, Minh Anh, in the fitting of contact lenses to infants who have had cataracts removed but would remain blind without the specialised attention.
To conduct this intensive fellowship, a team of Sight For All optometrists travelled to Hanoi from Australia on a bi-monthly basis over the course of a twelve month period.

“I spent a week at the VNIO in Hanoi training a small team to fit specialty contact lenses. There are some conditions in which contact lenses are the best and sometimes the only option, so during the week I was there, I was lucky enough to witness some with reduced sight see clearly again and even lucky enough to see some babies see for the first time. Each experience was touching, however not as much so as knowing that this team of dedicated individuals will continue to provide sight for many more to come. Words can’t describe how lucky and proud I feel to have contributed. ”
Ms Jessica Chi, Victoria

In-Country Workshops

Sight For All held a phaco-emulsification cataract surgery teaching workshop for a selected group of ophthalmologists at Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital in January 2010. Another workshop was held at Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO) in Hanoi in October 2011.

A neuro-ophthalmology workshop was held at VNIO in Hanoi in March 2012.

Fellowship Program

Dr Qwan Nguyen completed a 12-month hands-on fellowship in vitreo-retinal surgery at the South Australian Institute of Ophthalmology in 2010. He returned to Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital as a leader in his field and to pass his new skills and knowledge to his colleagues in Vietnam.

A team of 14 Sight For All Australian & New Zealand ophthalmologists, optometrists and orthoptists undertook an in-country fellowship program in paediatric ophthalmology at VNIO in Hanoi throughout 2012.
Three Vietnamese ophthalmologists (including one from Central Vietnam) were trained over a 12-month period and will become leaders in the fight aganist childhood blindness in Vietnam.
Thank you to Santos for their generous funding of this initiative. One of the Vietnamese ophthalmologists, Dr Chau Minh Pham said this about Sight For All’s paediatric Fellowship:

“Sight For All has been one of the best organisations that I have worked with. I undertook a Paediatric Ophthalmology Fellowship with Sight For All and it changed many things for my career and the eye health of Vietnam. I am now treating 4,000-5,000 children every year.
Firstly, we could change our practice to do the best for patients to prevent blindness. We were able to learn internationally accepted management protocols in our own hospital.
Secondly, the volunteer Australian doctors that we worked with taught us not only about ophthalmology, but also about communicating and teaching so that we could continue to teach other doctors here in Vietnam.”

Dr Chau Minh Pham, trained by Sight For All in 2012-2013

An in-country fellowship program in oculoplastic surgery for three fellows (including one from Central Vietnam) was held throughout 2013 at VNIO.
Santos generously supported the training as well as the equipment needed to enhance the transfer of skills from our team.

Sight For All arranged for paediatric ophthalmologist, Dr Trang, to travel to Hyderabad, India in 2013 for three months of intensive training with Dr Santosh Honavar in the management of retinoblastoma, a rare but potentially deadly childhood eye cancer. Thank you to the Eye Cancer Foundation (USA) who generously funded this project.

In-country fellowships in neuro-ophthalmology (2014) and corneal diseases (2015) were undertaken at VNIO – a total of six fellows, including two from Central Vietnam were trained.
Thank you again to Santos for their generous funding of these initiatives.

In 2018 Sight For All commenced a Glaucoma Fellowship training Drs Ha Do Thi Ngoc and Hoang Thi Hien from VNIO, and Nguyen Thi Thanh Truc, from Hue Eye Hospital.

Contact Lens Training

A team of Sight For All optometrists have trained a Vietnamese optometrist, Minh Anh, in the fitting of contact lenses at VNIO throughout 2014. This training allowed contact lenses to be fitted to infants who have had cataracts removed and yet would remain blind without this specialised attention.
Thank you to Santos for their generous funding of this initiative.