The Fred Hollows Foundation (The Foundation) began its work in Viet Nam in 1992. The Viet Nam Program has worked to improve the delivery of sustainable eye care services throughout the country through the development of local eye care capacity, improvement of eye care awareness, and strong advocacy for increased national and provincial support and resources for eye care.

The Fred Hollows Foundation is one of the leading eye care international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) in Viet Nam with strong partnership with the Viet Nam Government, particularly with Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education and Training, Viet Nam National Institute of Ophthalmology (VNIO), leading medical universities, more than 20 provincial eye care service providers in the country, International Agency for Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), World Health Organization (WHO) in Viet Nam, the Australian Government Aid Program, the Standard Chartered Bank, and other INGOs working in Viet Nam.

The Foundation has played a major role in the increase of the in-country cataract surgery rate from nearly 900 per million people per year in 1993 to 2,395 in 2013 (Source: VNIO, 2013). Working closely with its partners, The Foundation is contributing greatly to the country’s effort to achieve the global target of 3,000 cataract surgeries per million people by the end of 2020.

The Viet Nam Program has developed and implemented its comprehensive eye care (CEC) model in 20 provinces in Viet Nam since 2003. The model is now replicated in The Foundation’s operations worldwide. This approach supports surgery and treatment for patients, training for medical staff across the health system, provision of infrastructure and medical equipment, and community awareness raising campaigns. Local government’s contribution are encouraged and local resources are mobilized. The Viet Nam Program is also increasing its work amongst school children, addressing major causes of visual impairment in children including refractive errors.

Currently The Viet Nam Program is moving from service delivery approach to focusing on advocacy and sustainability development for the period 2016 – 2020. This is in alignment with The Foundation’s new strategic plan which contributes to eye health system strengthening and sustainable financing for eye health in its country programs.