Orbis and Roche Pharma Vietnam announce pioneering partnership to enhance life-changing diabetic eye care services

Orbis has announced a trailblazing new partnership with leading pharmaceutical company Roche Pharma Vietnam, which aims to address the rising tide of serious diabetic eye conditions across the country. Roche Pharma (Vietnam) Ltd. has contributed to this partnership in providing funding, technical expertise, guidance and local health system knowledge.

Over the next two years, Orbis and Roche Vietnam will deliver a co-curated programme, known as The Vietnam Eye Health Programme, which will implement cutting-edge services to improve long-term health outcomes for diabetic patients, protecting thousands of families and communities from the risk of avoidable blindness.

Approximately seven million people in Vietnam have been diagnosed with diabetes, leaving a considerable number of people at risk of developing Diabetic Retinopathy – a serious eye condition which, if left untreated, can lead to a gradual loss of vision or blindness that cannot be reversed.

Together, Orbis and Roche Vietnam will establish a comprehensive and sustainable model for diabetic eye care services, ensuring that patients receive seamless care from diagnosis to treatment, led by a holistic and patient-centred approach.

Across seven partner hospitals in the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Orbis and Roche Vietnam will scale up care for diabetic patients, benefitting approximately 27,000 people living with diabetic eye conditions.

The innovative collaboration will provide scientific training to thousands of healthcare professionals, equip partner hospitals with advanced diagnostic tools and medical technology, and implement AI-assisted screening through Orbis’s Cybersight programme to support early detection, referral and treatment. The collaboration will also provide real world data to help local authorities develop technical guidelines in Diabetic Retinopathy management in Vietnam.

Diabetic Retinopathy is currently one of the leading causes of avoidable blindness among Vietnam’s working-age population. From January 2026, this life-changing project will build capacity, solutions and increase AI-assisted eye care screenings to promote early detection and timely treatment.

The partnership is a critical step in addressing the growing challenge of Diabetic Retinopathy in Vietnam, with potential for the programme to be replicated throughout the country beyond its initial two-year duration.

Founded in 1896 in Basel, Switzerland, as one of the first industrial manufacturers of branded medicines, Roche has grown into the world’s largest biotechnology company and the global leader in in-vitro diagnostics. The company pursues scientific excellence to discover and develop medicines and diagnostics for improving and saving the lives of people around the world. We are a pioneer in personalised healthcare and want to further transform how healthcare is delivered to have an even greater impact. To provide the best care for each person we partner with many stakeholders and combine our strengths in Diagnostics and Pharma with data insights from the clinical practice.

In recognising our endeavour to pursue a long-term perspective in all we do, Roche has been named one of the most sustainable companies in the pharmaceuticals industry by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for the fifteenth consecutive year. This distinction also reflects our efforts to improve access to healthcare together with local partners in every country we work.