Medics from the Shanxi Eye Hospital learn the precautions for the use of the medical operation vehicle. [Photo/Yellow River News] 

A medical team composed of medics from the Shanxi Eye Hospital in Taiyuan, capital of North China's Shanxi province, departed for the African country of Djibouti on Feb 15, to implement their month-long project of reducing blindness caused by cataracts.

The project, a foreign aid project jointly carried out by the Shanxi Health Commission and the GX Foundation based in Hong Kong, will use two surgical carts provided by the foundation to perform 6,000 to 7,000 cataract surgeries in Djibouti, free of charge in the five years to come.

"We expect to send two medical teams every year for five years to complete the task in increments," said Li Xiao, director of the international cooperation and exchange department of the Shanxi Health Commission.

"Among the seven members of the first medical team, four have participated in medical missions to Africa and have rich work experience."

In 2016, the Shanxi Eye Hospital was responsible for implementing the cataracts project in Cameroon, in which the team completed 627 cataract surgeries within 38 days.

Liu Jianting, the leader of the first medical team to Djibouti for this project, said that seven medics will complete about 400 cataract operations in a month, further communication and coordination efforts with the GX Foundation, integrate technical training into daily work, and record daily work to offer reliable references for the medical teams to follow. 

"The implementation of this project is of great significance to Shanxi's foreign medical cooperation, as it promotes people-to-people ties between China and Djibouti, and helps to build an international health community," said Zhang Bo, director of the Shanxi Health Commission.