Jiang Lijuan: helping people see again
Jiang Lijuan performs an operation. [File photo]
Born in 1950, Jiang Lijuan is the executive director of the Chinese Medical Association.
After graduating from Peking University Health Science Center in 1978, she began interning as a doctor in Beijing Railway Hospital. There, she met two little blind girls who couldn't afford the operations they needed because of poverty. "Auntie, help! Help us! Others can go to school, but we can't," cried the girls. Their pleas tugged at Jiang's heart.
In 1980, instead of working in a big hospital, she chose to work in a small hospital dedicated to curing and preventing blindness in Shunyi. As director of ophthalmology, she rode her bike to work every morning to examine the local people's eyesight with her colleagues in the cold of winter and the heat of summer. Living in the countryside, she witnessed the hardships of the blind. One old woman had to connect her room with the lavatory with a red string just so she could get to the bathroom.
Her general investigation identified over 20,000 blind people in the area. This worried Jiang a lot. She explained that cataract operations could help people see again, but that they were uncertain as to what to believe. Finally, Jiang talked an old woman into allowing Jiang to operate on her. The woman regained her vision after the surgery, and from then on more and more people were eager for operations in Shunyi. Over the following years, Jiang brought many patients back to the light.
In 1985, Jiang and her colleagues won third prize at the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Progress Awards for their work curing and preventing blindness in Shunyi.
In 1987, thanks to Jiang's efforts, China's first suburban eye disease prevention center was established in Shunyi. The center carried out examinations, prevention and treatment for over 540,000 people. With the help of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Tongren Hospital and Peking University First Hospital, Jiang trained 499 eye doctors in the county and performed 16,700 cataract operations.
In 1989, Shunyi built the first county-level strabismus and amblyopia center in China. Jiang and her team examined 80,000 children and dealt with more than 5,000 cases. With the introduction of the Parks surgical procedure from the U.S., over 3,600 children with strabismus were operated on and regained their sight. Over 2,100 children suffering from congenital cataracts also received intraocular lens implants. At the international symposium on strabismus and amblyopia, Jiang's efforts were praised by Aamsa, president of the International Strabismus and Amblyopia Association.
Jiang Lijuan performs an operation. [File photo]
In 1996, Jiang, together with the World Health Organization (WHO), the US National Eye Institute and Peking Union Medical College Hospital, did a sample survey on people who were 50 years old and above in Shunyi and won the first prize in the WHO epidemiological projects contest.
Jiang also invented a small-incision surgical method. After conducting surveys of the countryside, Jiang realized that few people went to see doctors not only because they were poor, but also because they thought operations took too long. Therefore, Jiang studied hard, experimented and finally invented the small-incision method. This technique, which won high praise from both domestic and foreign experts, shortened the cataract operation time to five minutes. Furthermore, the procedure's low cost made it possible for the public in China to afford it.
In April 1995, while Jiang was operating on a patient, she was told that her son had been hurt by a shot during a PE lesson and needed a craniotomy. However, she didn't leave the table and continued the operation. Sometimes Jiang felt sorry for her son, since she often worked extra hours in the evening and had no time to look after her son, and her neighbors were often the ones who ate lunch with him.
Jiang is still working today. She has funded six orphans' education, and two of them have found jobs. Each year, she goes to the orphanage to do free physical examinations for orphans and gives them presents like books and glasses. Over the past 10 years, she has written off more than 200,000 yuan in medical treatment expenses for these children.
Moreover, Jiang is committed to national blindness prevention. She has organized 17 national medical teams to perform cataract surgeries for poor people in many provinces. They have helped over 56,700 patients see the world again. With the help of "light buses" in 12 provinces, she has also brought advanced medical technology to northwest China and trained 1,649 ophthalmologists.
"So far, I have done more than 70,000 free surgeries all over the country," said Yang. Her husband, Xing Zhanjun, a professor at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, also supports her a lot. "I work from Monday to Friday, and in my free time, I train young students and do free operations. It is tiring but meaningful," said Jiang.
In June 2014, eight people formed a Xinjiang-aid medical team. They left Beijing in June and stayed in Xinjiang for 15 days. Jiang was the volunteer eye doctor and her husband Xing was the leader of the medical team. During their visit, they treated over 600 people and performed operations on 150 patients. They also donated two ophthalmic microscopes and 1,500 artificial eye lenses to local facilities.
Even after having performed 70,000 free surgeries, Jiang's volunteer work continues.
Patients take photos with Jiang before being discharged from the hospital. [File photo]
Jiang performs a cataract screening. [File photo]
Jiang examines a patient's eyes. [File photo]
