New system to treat eye diseases in rural areas
( 2003-12-15 10:15) (China Daily)
China is aiming to set up a
system covering all villages to help rural people suffering from serious eye
diseases, said Han Jianmin, director of the National Blindness Action Group.
Eye protection will be an important part of healthcare work, especially in
rural areas, Han told a national conference on blindness. China has over 5
million blind people, approximately 18 per cent of the world's total. Each year,
450,000 Chinese people suffer from various eye afflictions, including 400,000
suffering from cataracts.
The number of patients suffering from eye problems will be three times the
figure for 2020 unless effective measures are applied, said Han.
The focus of new measures to treat eye afflictions is on the villages,
especially those in the western and central parts of China, said Xu Liang,
director of the Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology. Xu added that eye diseases
such as cataracts and trachoma are still threats to old people in the
countryside.
Only one out of 10 cataracts patients in the countryside can afford
treatment, said Xu.
"The first thing we will do is to train ophthalmic doctors at county-level
hospitals," said Han Jianmin, adding that more efforts must be made to increase
the budget for the work, while reducing treatment fees.
Over 2.6 million Chinese cataract patients have regained their vision after
receiving help from the nationwide Sight First China Action programme, held from
1997 to 2002.
Between 1997 and 2001, the programme helped bring ophthalmologic services to
100 hospitals at the county level, while training 4,000 ophthalmologists from
rural areas, and establishing a database of eye diseases in Wuhan of Central
China's Hubei Province in 1999.
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