Survey shows lack of eye care for kids
A recent survey on paediatric eye care released on March 25 by the Ministry of Health's Health Strategy and Policy Institute (HSPI) showed big obstacles and gaps in paediatric eye care services in Vietnam.
The survey was conducted by experts from HSPI and the Viet Nam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO) in Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Thua Thien-Hue, Da Nang, Kon Tum, Binh Dinh, HCM City and Can Tho from August to November 2014.
The survey found that 7.6% of every 10,000 Vietnamese children were blind, compared with 7% per 10,000 globally. The number of blind boys was four times higher than that of girls, it found. The major causes of the problem in Vietnam included refractive errors, corneal scarring, posterior segments and orbit abnormality.
"Vietnam has around 12.6 million children, but there are only four medical centres specialising in paediatric eye care," said Vu Thi Minh Hanh, vice director of HSPI. "They are at VNIO in Hanoi and in Hue, Danang and HCM City. Only 10.9% of children with refractive errors (RE) were screened and only 14.8% of RE children were prescribed glasses."
The survey said that the State budget for paediatric eye care was limited and the main financial sources were hospital fees, health insurance funds and international support. And many paediatric eye care services hadn't been paid by the health insurance funds.
"The country has only 8 optometrists who have been trained for 4 years, much lower than the Vision 2020 expectation of 4 per 1 million people," Hanh said.
Eye care treatment is unevenly distributed in Vietnam, according to the survey. About 87% of ophthalmologists are working in urban areas, 86% of eye care professionals work at the provincial level, 11% work at the district level and 2% work at the communal level, according to the survey.
Hanh said that paediatric eye care manpower is limited both in term of quantity and quality, due to shortcomings in training and incentives. The country has only 40 paediatric ophthalmologists nationwide.
The country has 1,500 eye doctors, including 200 doctors from private hospitals, according to the survey. And 2,224 assistant doctors and nurses specialise in ophthalmology. However, only 40 of the 1,500 eye doctors specialise in paediatric eye care.