Over 2.6 million Chinese cataract patients have regained their
vision after receiving help from the nationwide Sight First China
Action from 1997 to 2002, according to 2002 yearbook on works
related to China's disabled people.
Sight First China Action was jointly launched by the Chinese
government and the Lion's Club International (LCI), one of the
world's largest charity organizations, in August 1997.
The program also includes activities such as popularizing
blindness-prevention knowledge and training ophthalmologists.
From 1997 to 2001, the program helped bring ophthalmologic
services to 100 hospitals at county level, train 4,000
ophthalmologists from rural areas, and establish a database of eye
diseases in Wuhan City of central China's Hubei Province in
1999.
The group plans to help another 2.5 million cataract patients
regain their sight from 2002 to 2006 and provide medical services
to more blind people in the country's rural areas.
At present, there are 8.77 million Chinese people suffering from
eye disorders, accounting for 14.6 percent of the total disabled
population. Over four million people are blinded by cataracts.
According to statistics from the World Health Organization and
the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, up to 45
million people worldwide are blind and the number is growing, but
80 percent of cases could be prevented or cured with better
treatment.
(Xinhua News Agency October 15, 2003)