Medical program brings vision to African cataract patients

When optometrist Hao Lei thinks of Africa, what comes to his mind first is not Isak Dinesen's famed memoir "Out of Africa," but the grateful faces of the patients to whom he has given the gift of sight. As a doctor from the Beijing-based Tongren Hospital and a member of a medical team organized through the China-Africa Brightness Action initiative, he and his colleagues have brought light and hope to many poor cataract patients living on the African continent. Hao has been to Africa twice with the medical team. In March this year, he and seven colleagues performed 514 free cataract surgeries within six days for patients in Zimbabwe. The workload was considerably more arduous than what Hao was used to in Beijing, but he and his team had a good attitude about their work. "No one complains," Hao said. "I feel my work is very meaningful when my patients can see again and their lives change for the better." The China-Africa Brightness Action initiative, which was launched on the 10th anniversary of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2010, has provided 1,126 African patients with free eye surgery, sending medical teams to the continent to perform surgery and other medical procedures. Hao's team returned to Beijing from Mozambique on Friday. Cataracts are a major problem for elderly patients in Africa, with nearly 50,000 cataract patients visiting hospitals and clinics in Zimbabwe alone each year. However, most of the patients cannot receive proper treatment due to high surgery costs and a lack of medical professionals and facilities. Hao said that while cataracts are common among elderly people, most of them can fully regain their eyesight after receiving surgery. "However, the surgery fees in Zimbabwe are too high for most local people to afford, so they end up going blind," Hao added. Fortunately, the Brightness Action initiative has given these patients a chance to regain their vision. Hao recalled that the patients waiting for surgery in the medical ward where he worked would hold the Chinese doctors' hands, conveying sincere messages with their eyes that they couldn't express verbally. "The program benefited poor people in Africa and allowed them to experience the friendliness of Chinese people," said Xin Shun, the Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe. China has launched a series of charitable programs in Africa in recent years. In August, the China Children and Teenagers' Fund donated about 2,000 hand-made sweaters to children in Kenya and four other African countries. The clothing donation was followed by China-Africa Hope, a program initiated in 2010 by the China Youth Development Foundation and several non-governmental organizations. The program was initiated to fund the construction of 1,000 primary schools in Africa, with the first school established in Tanzania in March. "The days I spent in Africa gave me the chance to see different working environments in other countries and gave me a new understanding of a doctor's value and responsibility," said Hao. "I hope to go to Africa again, if I have another chance," Hao added.