Lao, Chinese doctors provide free cataract surgery

Lao and Chinese ophthalmologists are providing free cataract surgery in Vientiane from August 20-25 to help poor people regain their eyesight.

The launch of the project was attended by a member of the Yunnan Friendship Foundation for NGO Network for International Exchanges, Mr Chengyungchun, Deputy Director of the Healthcare and Rehabilitation Department, Ministry of Health, Dr Bouakhan Phakhothoung, and medical staff from the Hospital of Yunnan province, China.

The cataract surgery is being performed under the Sino-Laos cataract project supported by the Foundation.

The project gives impoverished people the opportunity to access high-quality medical services and to support themselves following surgery instead of depending on others, the Deputy Director General of Mahosot Hospital, Associate Prof. Dr Douangdao Souk-Aloune, said yesterday.

Specialists will remove cataracts from about 100 elderly people this week.
The Chinese team is supporting the project by providing equipment for the surgery, which will be performed at Mahosot Hospital.

An anonymous official working with the project said the surgery dramatically reduces the risk of blindness, which is largely avoidable.

The procedures are being carried out in line with the Lao government’s and China’s obligations through their cooperation in the health sector to provide the highest attainable standard of health for Lao people. The initiative, called Bright Journey, is funded by the Chinese government.  

According to the National Ophthalmology Centre in Vientiane, a recent survey estimated that 3 percent of the population aged 50 and above is severely visually impaired. This prevalence level contrasts with that of a developed country such as Australia, where the figure is less than 1 percent.

The catarcat incidence rate among the population in Asean member countries is 0.1 percent. Cases are mostly found in the elderly, while others occur because of eye injuries, diabetes, and genetic defects. But the condition can easily be treated, according to the World Health Organisation.

Blindness in Laos is primarily caused by cataracts, while poor vision is caused by uncorrected refractive errors.

Editor: John Li