Guangxi medical team provides help to Lao cataract patients

Guangxi medical staff members provide cataract treatment to a local patient. [Photo/China News Service]

A team of 10 medical staff members from the People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been embarking on a project to eliminate blindness caused by cataracts in Vientiane, capital of Laos, helping more than 300 patients for free since Sept 16.

The delegation arrived in Vientiane on Sept 2 and started preparing for the project's start on Sept 16. The project was jointly launched by parties including the Health Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Lao Ministry of Health.

Laos is located in the tropical zone with strong sunlight, which is also one of the areas where there is a high incidence of cataracts and other eye diseases. The country is also lacking ophthalmologists, leaving many patients unable to receive timely treatment.

"We are also teaching local ophthalmologists to help them master some techniques in treating cataracts," said Xu Fan, head of the team.

In recent years, Guangxi has been devoting continuous efforts to innovating an overseas medical aid model. It has dispatched medial teams to Cambodia and Laos to carry out free operations for local patients with cataracts.

Huang Wenxin of the Health Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region noted that Guangxi has dispatched 12 batches of 74 professional ophthalmologists to Kampong Cham in Cambodia, restoring eyesight for 6,208 local patients since 2018.