The China Welfare Fund for the Handicapped plans to perform free
cataract operations on 800,000 impoverished blind people by 2010,
the foundation's chairman Jiang Shangzhou announced on Tuesday.
"Blindness caused by cataract is curable," Jiang said. "Many
impoverished patients miss their opportunity to regain their sight
because they can not afford the operation fees."
China estimates about 5.25 million people will need cataract
operations between 2006 and 2010 but the government will only be
able to perform around three million operations over the five-year
period.
"About 800,000 of the remaining two million patients are too
poor to afford the operation," said Jiang.
If performing a cataract operation costs 1,000 yuan (about
US$128), a total of 800 million yuan will be needed to help the
800,000 poor people who became blind because of the disease, Jiang
said.
The program which is devoted to helping cataract patients was
launched by the China Disabled Persons' Federation on June 5,
2006.
Free cataract operations have been performed in villages and
towns of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and southwest
China's Sichuan Province since the program was
launched, said Jiang.
(Xinhua News Agency June 6, 2007)