COLOMBO, Nov. 12 -- A medical team from China performed 100 cataract surgeries, free of charge, in Sri Lanka on Sunday and Monday, in order to strengthen medical cooperation between the two countries.
The Sri Lankan patients received the free cataract surgeries as part of a partnership between Lanka Hospitals, China Huaxia Cultural Heritage Foundation, AIDI Eye Hospital Chengdu and Association for Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation.
The surgeries were conducted at Lanka Hospitals in capital Colombo by a Chinese volunteer medical team lead by opthamologist Yao Xiaoming, vice president of AIDI Eye Hospital in Chengdu. Yao has conducted over 1000 free cataract surgeries since his first visit to Sri Lanka in 2017.
Beneficiaries of the free cataract surgery program were selected from rural and low income families who were on the Sri Lankan government's waiting list.
One patient named Benjamin could only see with one eye before the surgery, but after performing the surgery, he told Xinhua that he did not expect the results to be so good. "I can see everything clearly now," he said.
Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Cheng Xueyuan said that the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka is working to promote medical cooperation and non-governmental partnerships between the two countries. "I am grateful for the medical team for practicing charity. I believe that the friendship of Sri Lanka and China will pass through the eyes of the patients," he said.