B&R project brings sight to cataract patients

The Belt and Road Initiative reached a milestone in its efforts to strengthen peopleto-people bonds on Thursday as doctors from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region launched an 18-month campaign to eradicate cataracts from a region in Cambodia.

The Belt and Road Cataract Blindness Eradication Campaign kicked off on Thursday as ophthalmologists from Hong Kong and Guangxi resolved to provide free surgery for all cataract patients in Kampong Cham — Cambodia’s most populous province — over 18 months.

There are about 8,000 cataract patients residing in the province.

Leung Chun-ying, former chief executive of Hong Kong and the campaign’s originator, said the campaign is conceived and runs under the framework of the B&R Initiative.

Leung, now vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, told China Daily the campaign transcends the usual economic collaborations and creates a medical partnership between the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Cambodia.

The campaign conducts cataract operations in two operating vehicles donated by the New Home Association, a non-government charity organization founded in Hong Kong.

More than 130 surgeries have been carried out so far, according to Zhong Haibin, one of the four Guangxi surgeons engaged in the campaign.

The event is co-hosted by Hong Kong and mainland medical practitioners, the Belt & Road Hong Kong Center, the Asian Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness and the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Cataract is a common degenerative eye disease, usually affecting people aged over 60. Clouding of the eye lens leads to vision impairment or loss. Cataract surgery, which entails removal of murky lenses and replacement with artificial lens cases, takes 10 to 20 minutes.

The prevalence rate of cataracts in Cambodia is at 38 percent. The Hong Kong and Guangxi medical experts attributed the high incidence of cataract cases in Cambodia to the lengthy exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight among locals, who mostly work outdoors, and the prohibitive price of surgery (operations cost $100 in local hospitals) for low-income individuals.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Yim Chhay Ly and Health Minister Mam Bun Heng, and as well as China’s Ambassador to Cambodia Xiong Bo, also attended the ceremony.