On the occasion of Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF) sponsoring Binh Dinh though a program of improving blindness prevention and treatment capacity through community-based eye care and construction of Binh Dinh Ophthalmological Hospital, Binh Dinh newspaper reporter interviewed Mr. Huynh Tan Phuc, head of FHF’s representative office in Vietnam on this issue.
Q: Why did FHF decided to conduct the project in Binh Dinh ?
A: Binh Dinh belongs to the area for the FHF’s strategic development in Vietnam. Moreover, Central provinces and CentralHighlands were less developed regions in the eye care, compared with Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City five years ago. Currently, this project has been conducted in 10 cities and provinces nationwide. Together with Quang Tri and Phu Yen, Binh Dinh was chosen for the conduction of the project because its community has a large scale.
Mr. Huynh Tan Phuc, graduating from HueMedicalUniversity in 1986, studied ophthalmology in Ho Chi Minh City. He worked for the world vision international organisation in 1995, in which he was in charge of health projects, including projects on eye care and cataract operation. He has worked for the FHF in Vietnam since 2003. |
Q: You are known as not only a manager but an ophthalmological doctor. What is your opinion about projects conducted in Binh Dinh?
A: After visiting BinhDinhOphthalmologicalCenter, I highly appreciated its staff and equipments. We developed some new issues, specializing in the eye care. We also suggested doctor Nguyen Thanh Triet, director of BinhDinhOphthalmologicalCenter, to experiment the LAN and develop Glocom observation system. If successful, this will be able to be a breakthrough.
Q: Does Binh Dinh have more advantages than other provinces?
A: In my opinion, the most obvious advantage of Binh Dinh is the support of provincial leaders and the Health Department. Besides, the medical workers are very enthusiastic about new things. I also highly appreciated doctor Triet, who is a good doctor.
Geographically, Binh Dinh can attract a large number of patients from neighbouring provinces. If we, therefore, conduct the project in Binh Dinh, it will reduce the number of patients coming to Da NangEyeHospital.
Q: Which activities is the project going to focus on?
A: The project has been conducted in 4 districts, including An Nhon, Tuy Phuoc, Phu Cat, and Phu My where we trained surgeons and aid ophthalmological doctors in surgery. In the coming time, we plan to focus on the quality of activities in the project.
Q: In comparison with other provinces, why does FHF always choose Binh Dinh as a place for the experiment?
A: There are more expenditure invested in Binh Dinh than other provinces, but I don’t want to use the word “priority” because we only invest in places where there are conditions for the development. And as I said, to experiment big issues, we must choose provinces having the potential, highly-qualified staff, and the infrastructure for the development. We, therefore, decided to invest in Binh Dinh province.
If possible, BinhDinhOphthalmologicalCenter will be able to be develop as a hospital with international standards. We willingly hire foreign experts to assist Binh Dinh in the construction of a management model which will bring benefits to the whole community.
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