Cataract project benefits more than 30,000 blind Tibetans

[TaiShang]

Cataract project benefits more than 30,000 blind Tibetans

LHASA, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- A project offering free cataract operations has helped more than 30,000 blind residents regain eyesight in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

For more than 20 years, the Regaining Eyesight Project initiated by the Tibet Development Fund (TDF) has provided free surgeries for cataract patients in Tibet.

"I finally know what 'blue' looks like. It's great to be able to see the world," said Tudan Cering, a 7-year-old boy with congenital cataract, who received a free surgery two months ago by a visiting doctor from east China's Zhejiang Province.

The Tibet Autonomous Region has the highest incidence of cataracts in China. In some cases, the Regaining Eyesight project paid for patients to see specialists outside the region.

The project also included the construction of the Lhasa Institute of Eye Care in Tibet's capital, which has helped many patients in rural areas throughout Tibet to receive free operations since completion in 2005.

"I'm able to feed the cows by myself now, thanks to the doctors," said a 68-year-old Tibetan man who received cataract surgery in June.

Tibetans face a high risk of cataracts due to the high altitude and strong ultraviolet rays, said Cedain Doje, who works at the eye care institute. "The lack of medical facilities and inconvenient transportation in the region multiply the seriousness of the situation."

"Hopefully through practice, the surgery could be learned by local doctors and passed down," said Lyu Tongfu, a visiting doctor from Quzhou People's Hospital in Zhejiang Province.

 

[JSCh]

Tibetans face a high risk of cataracts due to the high altitude and strong ultraviolet rays

Also this,

Tibetan children suffering congenital heart disease (CHD) arrive at the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, on Sept. 18, 2012. The first 14 Tibetan CHD children arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to get free treatment. (Xinhua/Tang Zhaoming)

1,000 Tibetan children with heart disease to receive free treatments
2012-12-06 20:57:46

LHASA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Approximately 1,000 Tibetan children with congenital heart disease will receive free treatments by Chinese Lunar New Year in 2013, as part of a charity program aiming to cure children with the disease in poor families in ethnic minority-dominated areas.

Initiated by the China Charity Federation in February 2011, the program has been brought to Tibet for a dozen times, and children who have been diagnosed with the disease have been sent to receive surgeries in big hospitals in Beijing and Guangzhou, said Xu Yixuan, honorary vice president of the federation, on Thursday.

"We want to send warmth and hopes to more families and children in the region," Xu said.

The plateau region, with an average altitude of over 4,000 meters, has a much higher reported incidence of congenital heart disease than other parts of China.

 

[Raphael]

Delhi Llama followers would say that praying to his holiness can achieve the same result .

 

[JSCh]

Tibetan children with congenital heart disease to accept free treatment
2013-12-17 09:47:00
From: China Tibet Online

A nurse of Chengdu Military Command General Hospital takes blood pressure for a kid with congenital heart disease from Tibet,in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province. (Photo/Chinanews)

A total of 13 children with congenital heart disease from needy families in Lhasa,capital city of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, arrived in Chengdu for free operation, on December 13, Chinanews reported.

In the following week, they will receive a free surgery treatment in the Chengdu Military Command General Hospital.

In July, medical staff from the hospital went to Lhundrup County to help and support the local medical treatment.

They learnt from Bawam, dean of the local people's hospital that there were a large number of children with congenital heart disease in the county.

Hearing that, the cardiovascular surgery experts were sent at once.

After auscultation and ultrasound screening for more than 80 children, 13 of them were diagnosed to need a surgery treatment.

A nurse carries an infant who is less than one year old and suffers from congenital heart diease to the patient room at the Guangzhou General Hospital of the Guangzhou Military Zone in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, March 26, 2014. Some 17 Tibetan children with congenital heart disease from Qamdo Prefecture of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region will receive free treatment at the hospital, part of a charity program aimed at curing 1,000 children with the disease in poor families in ethnic-dominated areas. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

 

[Huaren]

Delhi Llama followers would say that praying to his holiness can achieve the same result .

Thats what falun gong followers would say, praying to master of universe to get miracle healing.
Delhi Lama followers would probably say praying for the next life and you wouldnt have those problems, next time.

 

[JSCh]

Medical staff members comfort a child with cleft lip and palate at a hospital in Lhasa, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 4, 2014. A total of 12 patients with cleft lip and palates, who are from Nagqu prefecture, received free surgeries provided by volunteers from Operation Smile China Medical Mission Sunday. The mission will offer free treatments for children with cleft lip and palates from poor families in Nagqu in the future three years. (Xinhua/Wen Tao)

Free Surgery for Over 100,000 Cleft Palate Patients
December 22, 2006 Editor: sarah

More than 101,000 Chinese cleft lip and palate patients have received free surgery provided by a charity project over the past eight years, a charity official said on Thursday.
The treatment project was jointly initiated by the China Charity Foundation (CCF) and US-based charity "Smile Train" in 1999. It has assisted impoverished patients under 40 in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.

"It's one of the largest charity projects in China," said Peng Yu, vice president of the CCF, explaining that 151 hospitals across the country performed the plastic surgery free of charge.

Victoria Z. Moy, managing director of the "Smile Train" China branch said "Smile Train" had invested about US$ 35 million in the project in China and funded the training of more than 4,000 Chinese doctors over the past eight years.

Urban and rural patients can apply for the free surgery at the nearest appointed local hospital with certification from local governments. It also allows rural migrant worker patients to receive treatment in cities instead of going back to their hometowns.

Harelips, which are often associated with cleft palates, are a common congenital malformation caused by hereditary and environmental factors.

China has 2.4 million children with cleft palates and about 25,000 babies are born with the ailment each year, government statistics show. Many children from poor families miss the best time for surgery -- 10 days to three months after birth. The operation takes just 45 minutes.

In Beijing plastic surgery for a cleft lip costs 6,000 yuan (US$ 750) and the treatment for a baby with both cleft lip and palate can cost 20,000 to 30,000 yuan (US$ 2,500 to 3,750).

Peng said the appointed hospitals had the capacity to treat 50,000 cleft palate patients each year but only 20,000 came to hospital annually. "The CCF must promote the free treatment to give poor patients operation opportunities," said Peng.

The condition was highlighted earlier this year when Chinese pop diva Faye Wong gave birth to a baby daughter with a cleft lip. Later Wong took her daughter to the US for plastic surgery.

Wong set up a foundation last month in collaboration with the Red Cross Society of China to help children under 14 with the problem.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency)

 

[TaiShang]

This kind of social policies are to further cement China's national unity and bring out people's full potential even in the remotest regions for the further development and eventual leadership of the nation.

Kudos to the central and local government(s).