Many people return to Vietnam for nearsighted surgery.

Coming for a follow-up examination at Tam Anh High-Tech Eye Center at the end of June, Mr. Nam said he was living and working in Germany. His personal schedule was very busy, however, his eye treatment schedule was not suitable.

Nam said he has been nearsighted by two diopters since high school. The degree of nearsightedness has remained the same until now, but the astigmatism has increased to four diopters. His vision is gradually becoming blurry, sometimes seeing an object with two or three blurry shadows.

The hospital in Germany assessed that he was eligible for surgery to remove myopia, and scheduled the surgery for two months. The reason is that doctors in this country only examine serious cases that require emergency care. People with non-emergency diseases such as dental, joint, or myopia surgery will be examined by their family doctor or given an appointment to see a specialist. The waiting time is usually two weeks to a month, maybe several months, half a year.

In the case of Mr. Nam, who is nearsighted, after a thorough examination and the specialist recommended eye surgery, he had to wait another two months for the surgery schedule. In addition, the treatment cost was three times higher than in Vietnam, but he could not choose the surgery date but had to follow the hospital’s arrangement.

Nam said he had been waiting for a month to see a doctor and did not want to wait any longer and receive an unfavorable surgery schedule. Therefore, he visited hospitals in his hometown and decided to seek treatment during his trip back home at the end of May.

“In Vietnam, I was able to have surgery right away and choose a suitable schedule, choose a reputable specialist, and use technology equivalent to that in Germany,” Nam said.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hiep, Director of Tam Anh High-Tech Eye Center, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Ophthalmology Association, directly performed surgery on Nam, using the SMILE Pro method. The surgery lasted less than 20 minutes, and the patient’s vision was restored to 10/10 when he returned for a check-up one day later.

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Duong, 22 years old, an international student, returned to Vietnam to have myopia surgery because the cost was cheaper. She said she had severe myopia of 10 diopters and astigmatism of 2 diopters, so her vision was poor at night. The thick-rimmed glasses made it difficult for her to exercise.

According to Duong, Singapore has the 6th highest healthcare system in the world, with high costs. Meanwhile, Vietnam has surgery costs that are only half or one-third lower, but still has modern, new equipment and skilled surgeons.

Associate Professor Hiep assessed that Ms. Duong had high myopia but thin cornea, so the Phakic method of placing intraocular lenses was the most optimal. This is a minimally invasive method, does not interfere deeply with the eye structure, does not erode the cornea, and minimizes complications. The doctor makes a small incision at the edge of the cornea to insert the intraocular lens behind the iris and in front of the lens.

The disadvantage of Phakic surgery is that the cost is higher than the laser method of nearsightedness correction. The intraocular lens needs to be designed specifically, most compatible with the patient, taking more than a month.

The surgery took 20 minutes. Ms. Duong recovered her vision the same day and returned to normal activities the next day.

The director of Tam Anh High-Tech Eye Center added that the center received a 30% increase in the number of overseas Vietnamese returning to their homeland for myopia surgery in May and June compared to April and May. They often take advantage of their time visiting relatives, summer vacations, and holidays to have their eyes examined and scheduled for myopia surgery. Many people have long vacations, so they choose a reasonable time for surgery and rest, thereby fully recovering before returning to work.

The trend of medical tourism, Vietnamese people returning home from abroad for treatment, has emerged in the past 5 years. According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Vietnam will welcome about 300,000 foreigners for outpatient examination and about 57,000 inpatients in 2022. Of which, the number of visitors to Ho Chi Minh City accounts for 40%.

According to the Ministry of Health’s estimate in 2018, patients from abroad coming for treatment are mainly overseas Vietnamese, patients from many neighboring countries such as Cambodia, Laos, and foreigners living and working in Vietnam. The reason is that Vietnam has developed medical technology in areas such as dentistry, eye surgery, organ transplants; competitive prices, quick and easy appointment scheduling and surgery.

Associate Professor Hiep shared that there are currently no exact statistics on the number of overseas Vietnamese undergoing surgery and treatment for eye diseases. Nationwide, the trend of foreigners coming to Vietnam for treatment is often choosing fields such as cosmetic surgery and maxillofacial surgery.

Explaining the trend, Associate Professor Hiep cited three reasons in terms of technology and doctor qualifications, treatment costs, and recovery time.

In terms of technology, 10 years ago, Vietnam’s myopia surgery technology was 6 years behind the world. Now, domestic surgical technology is on par with the world. Vietnam is the leading country in Southeast Asia in the number of myopia surgeries.

Like the SMILE Pro method performed on the Visumax 800 machine, it is considered the most modern technology in the world today in the treatment of nearsightedness and astigmatism. The machine was born in 2021, Vietnam owns it and puts it into application in 2022. Along with technology, our country has a team of experienced, highly qualified doctors, capable of treating all patient cases.

Modern technology allows to shorten the surgery and recovery time for patients. Each surgery lasts about 10-20 minutes, recovery time is 1-3 days, then return to normal activities. Within the first month, patients should avoid activities such as swimming, washing hair to avoid water in the eyes, should not sleep on the stomach to create pressure on the eyes, should wear anti-dust glasses to ensure the best recovery of the eyes.

Besides the technology factor, the cost issue is also a priority for many people when choosing surgery in Vietnam. In Germany, the lowest cost for a SMILE Pro surgery is about 5,000 euros (equivalent to about 136 million VND), in Vietnam it is about 50-60 million VND. In Singapore, the cost for a Phakic surgery ranges from 8,000 to 15,000 SGD (equivalent to 150-280 million VND), and in Vietnam it ranges from 80-100 million VND.

Similar to Vietnam, Singaporean health insurance does not cover myopia surgery. In contrast, Germany has compulsory insurance and voluntary (private) insurance, with different levels of contribution and types of insurance. With laser refractive surgery and voluntary insurance, depending on the type of insurance, the patient will be partially or fully covered.

The General Secretary of the Vietnam Ophthalmological Association assessed that the trend of overseas Vietnamese and foreigners returning to Vietnam for medical treatment is increasing. Among eye diseases, the number of surgeries to treat refractive errors is the highest.

“This is a positive sign, showing that the quality of medical examination and treatment in Vietnam is improving. This trend is completely consistent with the expectations of the Ministry of Health, which wants to build quality medical services and provide good service so that patients with money do not have to go abroad for medical examination and treatment,” Associate Professor Hiep said.

He expects that in the next 10-20 years, Vietnam will become a country that increasingly attracts tourism – health – medical – resort, contributing foreign currency to the national budget, creating motivation to upgrade the hospital system to become a medical industry in the future.