COLOMBO, Nov 13 (NNN-SL NEWS) – A medical team from China performed 100 cataract surgeries, free of charge, in Sri Lanka, 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 the capital, Colombo, by a Chinese volunteer medical team, led by opthamologist Yao Xiaoming, vice president of AIDI Eye Hospital in Chengdu. Yao has conducted over 1,000 free cataract surgeries since his first visit to Sri Lanka in 2014.
Beneficiaries of the free cataract surgery programme were selected from rural and low income families, who were on the Sri Lankan government’s waiting list.
Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Cheng Xueyuan, said, 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 practising charity. I believe that, the friendship of Sri Lanka and China will pass through the eyes of the patients,” he said.– NNN-SL NEWS