The international eye charity, Orbis, and Roche Pharma (Vietnam) have announced a new multi-year partnership aimed at tackling the growing burden of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in Vietnam, where an estimated seven million people are living with diabetes.
The collaboration, known as the Vietnam Eye Health Program, will roll out over the next two years across seven partner hospitals in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with the goal of scaling up screening, referral, and treatment services for approximately 27,000 people with diabetic eye disease. Diabetic retinopathy remains one of the leading causes of avoidable blindness among Vietnam’s working-age population.
Roche Pharma (Vietnam) Ltd. will contribute funding, technical expertise, and local health system knowledge to support the program. The initiative will equip hospitals with advanced diagnostic tools, expand scientific training for thousands of healthcare professionals, and introduce AI-assisted screening through Orbis’s Cybersight telemedicine platform to promote earlier detection and timely intervention.
In addition to direct patient care, the program aims to generate real-world data to inform the development of national technical guidelines for diabetic retinopathy management in the country. Organizers describe the model as comprehensive and patient-centred, designed to ensure continuity of care from diagnosis through to treatment.
With more than two million people currently living with blindness and vision loss in Vietnam – around 90 percent of which is considered avoidable – the partners say the initiative represents a critical step toward reducing preventable sight loss and strengthening long-term diabetic eye care infrastructure.
Source: Orbis.
