Doctor on the move: Bringing light to countrymen with cataracts

Yu Chaoqing is deputy head of the People's Hospital of Weixi Lisu Autonomous County in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. He is an ophthalmologist, and serves as director of the hospital's otolaryngology department, but he is often on the move.

"When I graduated from college, I chose to return to my hometown, because I wanted to serve my fellow countrymen with what I had learned," Yu said. In 2002, he graduated from Kunming Medical College and became a doctor in Weixin. However, instead of staying at the hospital, he often visits the farmers in the villages.

In 2007, when he was visiting Yongchun Township with a delegation of the Yunnan Disabled Persons' Federation, he noticed a high incidence of cataracts among the local farmers. It was then that Yu planned to carry out a cataract survey.

From the second half of 2008 onwards, Yu would spend his weekends carrying out screenings for villagers in the surrounding townships. "I conducted more than 70 operations that year. I was tired, but what I did was meaningful," Yu said with a broad smile.

Today Yu works with a team. "Now we have a team of seven ophthalmologists. We take turns to conduct screenings for villagers. With more and better equipment, we have improved our efficiency. Medical workers from Kunming and Shanghai come here every year, to help us improve our skills, which has in turn helped poverty alleviation in rural areas," Yu said happily.

Reporting by Xiong Yan，Chu Donghua, Li Hengqiang and Li Wenjun; editing by Wang Jingzhong