The three-week programme will run until Oct. 28 in HCM City and Hanoi, as well as the provinces of Quang Binh, Binh Phuoc and An Giang with the assistance of Japanese pharmaceuticals and cosmetics producer Rohto Mentholatum Vietnam.

Tran Thi Phuong Thu, head of the HCM City Eye Hospital, said that more public awareness of how to prevent eye diseases could help 75 percent of the visual impaired people in Vietnam.

She said that the main causes of blindness in the country are cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, corneal opacity and diabetic retinopathy.

She added that the rate of blindness is higher among women than men because they live longer and had less access to proper healthcare.

Eye hospitals have been working alongside schools and the media to improve awareness of how to prevent eye diseases and shortsightedness among students, Thu said.