Chris Hayes (Fowler, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday, together with my wife, Bernadette, I attended the Vietnam Vision charity dinner. The purpose was to raise funds to enable a group of doctors and dentists and other volunteers to travel to Vietnam and conduct free eye operations, free dental checks and deliver humanitarian aid to an underprivileged population there.

Vietnam Vision Project Australia has been organising annual cataract operations in Vietnam since 2003 and to date they have conducted more than 5,000 operations. The team of doctors, dentists and volunteers plans to depart in July this year to spend another two weeks in the disadvantaged provinces of Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong, providing free treatment to 500 visually impaired people and 1,000 dental patients.

While a need for dental treatments is common around the world, including in Australia, certainly blindness is a particularly major issue in Vietnam, and it is mainly caused by cataracts. There are currently more than 500,000 people suffering from total blindness in Vietnam while close to a million have blindness in one eye. The majority of people affected live in rural areas and are very poor. There are simply not enough resources to cater for the large and growing demand for eye surgery in Vietnam. As of 2009, more than 120,000 cataract operations were performed each year in Vietnam; this does not match the 170,000 new cataract patients that appear annually.

There are many individuals whose hard work and dedication have made this important work by Vietnam Vision Project possible. Dr Phuoc Vo, OAM, is the chairman and medical supervisor of the team. He is a highly-respected member of our community in South-West Sydney. He is also the distinguished leader of the Vietnam Vision Project. The program is also supported by Dr Le Duc Hong, the vice-chairman, and Dr Hien Tran, the program fundraising officer, and many other doctors, dentists and dedicated volunteers who donate their valuable time in an effort to raise funds to undertake the important work of Vietnam Vision programs in Vietnam.

The program has had strong support and assistance from the Rotary Club of Liverpool West, led by President Shann O'Connell, and also the Combined Rotary Clubs of Liverpool and the Rotary Australia World Community Services, and this has continued over many years. This is one of many demonstrations of the Rotary Club's commitment to serving the local community and also to providing international cooperation and making a difference for humanity. Rotary members truly do put service above self.

As we are on the topic of eye care, I would like to remind everybody that this week is Macular Degeneration Week. Last week I met with Dr William Trinh, an optometrist in Cabramatta in my electorate, who is one of the doctors lending his support to Vietnam Vision Project. Dr Trinh and I discussed the importance of local residents having their eyes examined to ensure their macular is in good condition. Macular degeneration is the name given to a group of degenerative diseases of the retina that cause progressive loss of central vision. It is also the leading cause of blindness and severe vision loss in Australia. It affects one in seven people over the age of 50, with increasing incidence with age. The disease can greatly affect a person's quality of life, level of independence and overall wellbeing. Dr Trinh, an award-winning optometrist, also stresses the importance of regular eye examinations. Although we cannot be immune to eye health issues here in Australia, it is certainly fortunate that we do have the opportunity in this country and the resources to allow for early detection and are able to take appropriate treatment.

However, many people around the world are not as fortunate, and that is why the work conducted by Vietnam Vision project is so critical. I would like to thank Dr Vo and his organising committee of Vietnam Vision Project 2013 for making me a part of their initiative. I would also like, once again, to praise the efforts of the doctors, dentists, the other medical practitioners and all the various volunteers involved in this program and wish them all the very best for their next humanitarian trip to Vietnam.