(VOVworld) - Standard Chartered Bank has donated 800,000 USD to an initiative to help prevent and treat cases of avoidable blindness in the Mekong Delta, according to officials at Orbis International.

In addition, Director Tran Huong said Orbis International has joined US Helen Keller International and the Netherlands Eye Care Foundation to contribute an additional 200,000 USD to the campaign. The funds will be used to bring life into focus for an estimated 200,000 children and adults in Can Tho and Ca Mau provinces, including provision of 200 free surgeries and 15,000 pairs of glasses for others Since its launch in 2003, the program has contributed to over 2.9 million cataract operations and surgical interventions and helped to treat 1.9 million residents of the region for river blindness.