Chinese doctors launch cataract surgery operation in Burundi

About 200 Burundian cataract patients are to be operated upon by Chinese doctors in a two-week campaign dubbed "Walking towards Light", the Burundian health minister said Friday at the launch of the campaign.

"Chinese doctors have deployed here to provide free operations to those patients," said Burundian Health and AIDS Control Minister Dr Josiane Nijimbere at the launch of the campaign.

The ceremony was attended by several officials including Chinese Ambassador to Burundi Zhuo Ruisheng and members of the Chinese community living in Burundi.

Nijimbere highly commended cooperation existing between Burundi and China especially in the medical sector.

"The equipment that will be used during this campaign of operating cataract will be donated to this hospital (Prince Regent Charles Hospital) and our medical doctors will use. During this campaign, they will, at the same time, learn how to use them," said Nijimbere.

The Chinese Ambassador said that the Chinese government increased the number of patients to be operated because seekers of the operation became numerous.

"Taking into account the increasing number of applicants for cataract operation in Burundi, we have decided to move from 150 beneficiaries to over 200 this year," the Chinese official said.

Those beneficiaries were selected among 1,217 patients from the east African country's 18 provinces.

The head of the delegation of Chinese ophthalmologists, Li Xiaodong, indicated that next year (2017), Burundi and China will celebrate the 30th anniversary of cooperation in the medical sector.

According to him, for 30 years, China has sent 17 medical missions to Burundi, with a total of 343 doctors. Endit