Chinese doctors improve eyesight in Uzbekistan

Free cataract surgery by Chinese doctors has improved the sight of 455 patients in Uzbekistan this year, the Chinese Foundation for Lifeline Express said on Tuesday.

The Chinese medical team also trained doctors in Uzbekistan, giving them guidance on diagnosing and treating eye diseases.

Since 2016, the foundation has sent medical teams to Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Pakistan, where they have conducted 1,500 free operations to improve the sight of impoverished cataract patients.

Last year, it announced plans to send medical teams to provide free surgery to 3,000 cataract patients in six countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative in the following three years.

The foundation, established in 1997, has helped more than 211,000 people in China's 28 provinces and autonomous regions, and has built more than 80 Lifeline Express eye centers nationwide, which also provide training for doctors from local hospitals in the treatment of common eye ailments.

Its annual report, released on Tuesday, shows it has helped 8,871 Chinese cataract patients to see better this year, most of them from poor families.

By the end of last month, the foundation had also provided free screening to about 185,000 diabetes patients for retina damage and provided information on treatment to those found to have a problem.

China has nearly 100 million people with diabetes, and 40 to 60 million of them are estimated to have diabetic retinopathy, or damage to the retina, according to the National Health Commission.

Nellie Fong, the foundation's founder, said, "A system to detect early diabetic retinopathy is urgently needed, as it can save many people from future sight loss."