Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) - Turning down a stablelife in Japan and enticing offers from big hospitals, Japanese Professor,Doctor Hattori Tadashi has decided to pursue his own journey to bring light to tensof thousands of underprivileged people in Vietnam.

The 60-year-old has recently been awarded the"Honorary citizen of Thua Thien - Hue province" title in recognitionof his outstanding achievements and contributions to the central locality’sdevelopment for peace and social progress.

In 2022, Hattori, who is CEO at Asia - PacificPrevention of Blindness Association (APBA), was presented with the RamonMagsaysay Award – an honour widely regarded as the "Nobel Peace Prize of Asia."

The doctor originally only planned to spend a singlethree months in Vietnam when he visited the Southeast Asian nation in April2002. However, that “three months” wound up impacting the next 20 years of hislife.

“I was shocked to see many patients who are blind inone eye go to the hospital only when the retina in the other eye becamedetached, or when they had other issues that might have caused their loss ofvision," Hattori said.

“Many patients refused because they couldn’t affordit.

“It broke my heart that I couldn’t help everyonebecause there was a shortage of surgical supplies and equipment.”

After returning to Japan, he called for sponsorshipfrom medical companies but was turned down because he no longer worked for ahospital.

He then submitted a proposal for assistance to theJapanese government but was told they only supported non-governmentalorganisations.

In the end, he decided to use all the savings that heand his wife had set aside for their retirement to buy equipment to performfree surgeries in Vietnam.

Over the years, Hattori continued returning to ruralVietnam to examine patients, perform surgeries, and treat cataract issues.

During his trip to the mountainous district of A Luoi inthe central province of Thua Thien - Hue on March 26, the doctor directly providedcheck-ups for hundreds of locals, and performed cataract surgeries for 42patients.

In Thua Thien - Hue, he not only directly performssurgeries but also transfers techniques, imparts knowledge and skills, andmobilises resources to improve service quality at the Hue Eye Hospital.

He is an example for local medical workers to followin improving qualifications and better serving the people.

Tadashi has received other honours for his humaneactivities in Vietnam. He was awarded the Friendship Medal by the President andthe insignia “For health of people” by the Ministry of Health./.