Governor-General Quentin Bryce has visited Hue Eye Hospital in Central Vietnam to see firsthand how a partnership between the Australian people and The Fred Hollows Foundation is restoring sight to thousands of Vietnamese.

 

During her visit, Ms Bryce met with the Director of Hue Eye Hospital to discuss the challenges facing eye health professionals in Central Vietnam. She also observed eye surgeries, talked to patients and toured the construction site of Hue’s new eye hospital being built through funds provided by The Foundation and the Australian people.

Hue is one of several cities in Vietnam which has received financial support through the Australian Government’s Avoidable Blindness Initiative (ABI). This initiative builds and expands on the existing work of non-government organisations in the field of blindness prevention. It remains one of the most significant government contributions to the elimination of avoidable blindness globally by 2020.
In Tuesday night’s Federal Budget, the Australian Government committed further funding of $21.3 million over four years - to continue to support the ABI and assist organisations such as The Foundation to eliminate avoidable blindness in our region by 2020.

Ms Bryce’s visit to Hue is part of a wider tour of Vietnam which aims to foster economic and political relations between the two countries. She was accompanied by her husband, His Excellency Michael Bryce AM and two official delegations from the Australian Embassy in Vietnam.

The Fred Hollows Foundation is an Australian organisation which continues the work of the late eye surgeon Professor Fred Hollows. Professor Hollows’ initial training of over 300 Vietnamese eye surgeons in the early 1990s is still regarded by many as one of the greatest gifts of development given by Australia to Vietnam, alongside the My Thuan Bridge across the Mekong Delta.

Since then, The Foundation has become one of the leading non-government organisation’s working with the Vietnamese people to eliminate avoidable blindness in more than 16 provinces throughout the country.

Learn more about the Vietnam program.