China and Cuba have jointly built an ophthalmic hospital in
northwest Qinghai Province, to help locals of the high-altitude
province who suffer ophthalmic diseases.
The Hospital of Talmologico Amistad China-Cuba De Xining has a
building area of 4,000 square meters, 80 beds, and 135 staff
members, including 52 from Cuba.
"This is the first cooperation project in ophthalmic area
between China and Cuba," said Wang Xuan, vice mayor of Xining City,
capital of Qinghai.
The two countries have invested 39 million yuan (US$4.9 million)
in the construction of the hospital. They planned a total
investment of 60 million yuan (US$7.6 million) for the
hospital.
Under a 10-year cooperation term, Cuba will supply the hospital
with equipment and experts, while the Chinese side provides space
and other staff.
Located in the Xining No.1 People's Hospital, the ophthalmic
hospital will be open to public next Tuesday.
With an average altitude of 3,000 meters, Qinghai has a high
incidence rate of cataracts, a disease which causes the lens of the
eye to become cloudy and can lead to blindness, due to cold air,
oxygen shortage and strong ultraviolet.
The province has now 12,000 cataracts patients with an annual
increase of 1,500 more. The total population of Qinghai is about
five million.
But the province had no special ophthalmic hospitals before,
making it difficult for cataracts patients to seek treatment.
(Xinhua News Agency December 8, 2006)
