Brightness Action: Sino-Lanka friendship restores sight to 120 patients

By KELUM SHIVANTHA in Colombo, Sri Lanka | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2023-05-22 19:00

Medical professionals from Yunnan province take a picture with local patients who have regained their sight after surgery on May 17 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. [Photo provided to China Daily]

China and Sri Lanka completed another step along the path of mutual cooperation by successfully conducting a program that conducted 120 cataract surgeries free of charge for underprivileged Sri Lankan patients.

Organized by the Yunnan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Association for Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation (ASLCSCC), the project was jointly implemented by the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Yunnan, and the Lanka Hospitals Corporation PLC.

It was part of the ongoing Silk Road Charity and Brightness Action campaign which has restored sight to patients across the region since it was launched in 2014.

A 10-member medical team from the Yunnan hospital arrived in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo on May 13. Together with their local partners, they worked tirelessly to make the program a success.

The eye surgery welfare program was held from May 15 to 17, when a ceremony was held at the Lanka Hospital in Colombo attended by officials from both China and Sri Lanka.

Visitors from China included the governor of Yunnan province Wang Yubo, Director General of the Yunnan Provincial Foreign Affairs Office Yang Mu and President of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University Zeng Zhong, alongside the Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong.

Also in attendance were Sri Lanka's State Minister of Health Seetha Arambepola, ASLCSCC President Indrananda Abeysekara, CEO of Lanka Hospitals Deepthi Lokuarachchi and Deputy CEO of Lanka Hospitals Lasantha Karunasekara, as well as other embassy and hospital staff.

Officials from Sri Lanka and Yunnan province chat at Lanka Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on May 17. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Speaking at the ceremony, Sri Lanka's Health Minister Arambepola expressed her gratitude to the governor of Yunnan and said she hoped that more such projects would be initiated in Sri Lanka in the future to benefit all levels of the public. Responding, Wang said he hoped that the two countries would enhance cooperation with each other.

Talking to the medical staff of the First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Wang praised their efforts and said that they have restored sight to 120 people, who in return have become ambassadors of China-Sri Lanka cooperation.

The head of the eye unit at Lanka Hospitals, Nishani Fernando, said that the current situation in Sri Lanka means that while private hospitals are still capable of conducting cataract surgery, many state hospitals are unable to do so due to a lack of lenses.

"Many of these patients are from villages who have been waiting for a long time to do the surgeries," Fernando said. "The condition had worsened and some patients were even at the risk of losing their sight altogether due to the delay."

Devika Kasthuriarachchi, the head of the surgical department at Lanka Hospitals, said that the hospital had previously worked with the ASLCSCC.

One of the best lenses used in Sri Lanka was used in the recent surgeries, she said, and low-income patients who would otherwise be unable to afford the surgery were included in the program.

Kasthuriarachchi also said that the organization of the program – from registration of doctors and providing facilities for patients to the surgeries and arranging post-surgery follow-up – was done cohesively.

President of the ASLCSCC President Indrananda Abeysekara said that patients included 30 patients from the districts of Batticaloa, Ampara, and Trincomalee in Eastern Province – which has now become a sister province of Yunnan province. Another 20 patients came from the families of the armed forces, 50 patients who did not have the financial means to undergo surgery were selected for the program, and the ASLCSCC sourced the other 20 patients, he said.

Abeysekera added that former Eastern Province governor Anuradha Yahampath had actively contacted patients in the Eastern Province and provided them with transportation facilities, while the ASLCSCC had provided them with food and drink.

Noting that Yunnan province had paid around $40,000 for the surgeries alone, the ASLCSCC president said that they were able to do more surgeries than previously anticipated as the Lanka Hospital offered to perform them at a concessionary rate.

Abeysekera recalled that in 2014, the ASLCSCC organized a program for 1,000 cataract surgeries performed by medical specialists from Sichuan province.

A total of 120 people in this group recovered full sight after surgery performed by Chinese doctors from Yunnan in collaboration with Lanka Hospitals. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Two similar China-aided programs, which saw 450 more cataract surgeries, supported by the Lions Clubs of Shenzhen and Sichuan province, have followed.

Abeysekera also said that the Yunnan Provincial People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries intends to conduct 300 more cataract surgeries next January.

Grateful patients expressed their delight and relief over their eyesight being restored. Speaking at the ceremony on May 17, a patient named Sultan from Kinniya in Eastern Province said that he had been losing his sight for over five years and had been waiting for treatment. Mohommad from Trincomalee, also in Eastern Province, said that he initially visited his local hospital where he was notified of the program. He expressed his gratitude for the surgery.

Sri Lanka's health sector has been seriously affected by the worst economic crisis experienced by the island nation in recent times and many patients, especially those who had been on waiting lists for various surgeries, have been severely impacted.

The writer, Chief Editor of www.srilankamirror.com, contributes this report to China Daily.