Securing future vision for eye health
Ophthalmologist, 80, has spent 22 years treating patients in Northeast China
Over the past 22 years, Lilia Anatolievna Popova has received hundreds of thousands of patients with eye problems in China.
The 80-year-old Russian ophthalmologist has been one of the chief experts at Daqing Ophthalmic Hospital in Heilong jiang province, since 1998, after retiring from the ophthalmology department of AlmaAta Central Hospital in Kazakhstan.
Popova was renowned as an ophthalmologist in Kazakhstan in the 1990s. But when she began a threemonth visit in Daqing at the request of fellow doctors in 1998, it seemed unlikely she would stay at the newly founded hospital, which lacked advanced ophthalmological techniques and equipment.
However, she was impressed by Yu Yaoguang, the founder of the hospital, who explained its vision and future goals to her. “Yu told me the hospital mainly focused on serving ordinary people and solving their eye problems,” Popova said. “In fact, that was also my original reason for becoming an ophthalmologist, so I decided to accept Yu’s invitation.”
She became the first foreign expert at the hospital as well as the first in Daqing since 1979.
According to the hospital’s regulations, Popova only needs to see 20
patients a day, but she usually receives twice that number. She seldom leaves the hospital on time and rarely has a full day’s rest in a week.
“I can’t refuse my patients, especially those from far away,” she said. “A doctor should not only have rich knowledge and experience but also understand the pain of the patients. Only those who are willing to help and save their patients can be regarded as good doctors.”
Strictly speaking
Ji Xuemei, 39, Popova’s translator, has worked with her since joining the hospital in 2007.
“She is really strict at work,” Ji said. “She told me that I was not allowed to translate her words for the patients before understanding
them completely.”
Ji said at the beginning of their partnership he couldn’t count the number of times she severely criticized his poor mastery of an ophthalmologist’s medical vocabulary. “However, thanks to her guidance and strict requirements, I quickly became a bridge of communication between her and her patients,” he said.
In addition to treating patients at the hospital, Popova provides free diagnoses in remotes areas, treating large numbers of patients who live in 400 villages in Daqing and other cities in Heilong jiang.
As the Daqing hospital developed, it provided public information about eye health in villages, communities, factories, public institutes and kindergartens.
“It’s a meaningful thing, especially for those poverty-stricken families,” Popova said. “After being diagnosed with ophthalmological diseases, they can get discounts and even free treatment at our hospital, which may help them reduce the family’s burden.”
With the support of the central government, the hospital launched a public welfare project in 2018 that performed 100 free cataract operations on poor patients in Zhaozhou, Zhaoyuan and Lindian counties in Heilong jiang, and Dorbod Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.
Popova is highly regarded by residents for her medical skills and dedication.
“She has forged deep friendships with countless patients,” Yu said.
“She often receives gifts from her patients, such as flags and flowers, and some thank her by asking for song dedications to be played on the radio.”
Once during a free clinic in a village in Daqing’s Datong district, Popova found a teacher named Wu Ping, who had a serious eye disease.
“She was nearly blind in her left eye because of cataracts and a pupil defect,” Popova said. “But she was worried about the cost of an operation.”
Popova invited Wu to the hospital and the operation on her left eye was free of charge. Wu’s vision was largely restored within a month.
In a message of gratitude sent with a flag to the doctor, Wu said, “Thank you sincerely. You are an ambassador of light.”
Rural progress
Popova has witnessed great changes in rural areas over the decades. “In the past, we usually treated the patients in shabby village clinics or rooms provided by villagers,” she recalled. “In the winter, the indoor temperature was too low to take off our thick padded coats, even though a small stove was burning.
“Now the village clinics and hospitals have been constructed as well as those in urban areas, providing us with quite a comfortable working environment. And the improvement of villagers’ living standards is also obvious.”
In 2005, Popova won the Friendship Award given by the Chinese government, the highest honor for a foreign expert in China, for her contribution to medical treatments and education.
In 2008, she was awarded the title of Daqing Honorary Citizen.
In 2009 she was i nvited to attend the ceremony celebrating the 60 th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in 2015 the 70 th anniversary of victory in World War II and last year, the 70 th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
In 2016, Popova was given permanent resident status.
“Daqing is my second home. Although I am old, I feel very happy that I still have the opportunity to serve patients. And I feel quite proud to have received so many honors that represent my hard work,” she said.
“I believe the country will continue to implement targeted poverty alleviation measures and ensure that all rural residents living below the poverty line are lifted out of poverty this year. I hope to live to be 100 years old, which will give me another 20 years for my patients.”