Chinese doctors conduct free surgeries for cataract patients in Sudan

[Photo/Xinhua]

"The Light Program represents one of the practical steps that the Chinese government adopts in line with the outcomes of Johannesburg summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. It incarnates the idea of the Chinese side towards cooperation with the African countries according to the principles of devotion, true results, convergence and honesty," Li said.

The visiting Chinese medical team includes 15 ophthalmologists, surgeons, surgery assistants and medical technicians.

Ahmed Al-Ma'moun Ahmed, a Sudanese patient who had a cataract surgery by the Chinese medical team, expressed his appreciation for the Chinese initiative, which has assisted Sudanese cataract patients to recover.

"I was suffering from cataract and could not undergo the surgery which costs 5,000 Sudanese pounds, so when I heard that there was a medical team arriving in Sudan to conduct free eye operation, I did not hesitate to travel to Khartoum," he told Xinhua.

Ahmed lives at Kiraima area in Sudan's Northern State, some 371 km north of the capital Khartoum.

"Now I feel much better. I will wait for two days and then they will remove the bandage. I'm optimistic to recover my sight. Thanks for these doctors who are so humane," said Ahmed after the surgery.
Sudan is planning to reduce its blindness rates to 0.3 percent by 2020.

In 2005, Sudan launched Vision 2020 initiative to eliminate blindness diseases, which focuses on preventing the spread of trachoma and cataract, the two major diseases responsible for blindness in Sudan.