2015年CRI 中国医生帮助博茨瓦纳白内障患者重见光明

 

Botswana performers sing a local song to celebrate that group of cataract¹ patients can see clearly after the gauze on their eyes was removed on Thursday.

"Two years ago, I cannot see very clearly. Yesterday, they did the operation, after the operation, they take this (the gauze) out, I can see clearly now. Clearly."

Due to cataracts², 62-year-old Fith Malebe was half-blind. Now she has full sight. Fith is one of those who recently received free operations by Chinese doctors in the Brightness Action Campaign launched by the Chinese government in the Scottish Livingston Hospital in Melopolole, Botswana's biggest village.

Eleven ophthalmologists from China are providing surgeries for local patients from June 17th.

They are going to carry out around 500 cases of free cataract operations and help them see the world again.

Hao Yansheng, a professor from Peking University Third Hospital, says doing surgeries in Botswana is more of a challenge than in China.

"Most of cataract patients here are with hypermature cataracts. They have missed the best time to cure them; some patients would have become permanently³ blind if they didn't have immediate⁴ operations. In addition, Botswana has the second-highest HIV rate in the world, so we are taking the potential risk of contracting HIV while doing operations and the top priority is taking care of ourselves."

According to Professor Hao, over 350 operations have been completed so far. The team also provides training to the local doctors on how to conduct the operations.

For Zhang Xiaoxia, a nurse from Fujian Provincial⁵ Hospital, this is her second time to take part in the campaign.

"Many local patients don't speak English but rather their own language, so we learned many necessary words of their languages like 'open or close your eyes' and 'don't move'. At first, it was hard to cooperate with local nurses because of the different working style, but now it's getting better."

Besides the campaign, the Chinese government also donates medical equipment, devices, drugs and consumables, worth of more than 1 million US dollars to Botswana.

Alfred Madigele, Assistant Minister of Health in Bostwana described the campaign.

"This campaign comes at a time when we are experiencing a high cataract backlog⁶ in our country, and this will in no doubt take us closer to the reduction of preventable blindness."

Zheng Zhuqiang, Chinese Ambassador to Botswana, believes that the campaign definitely benefits hundreds of Botswana people and pushes bilateral⁷ relations to a higher level.

"The Chinese government expects to bring brightness back to more Botswana cataracts patients, to push forward the development of public health in Botswana, and to demonstrate the goodwill⁸ and love of Chinese people for Botswana people."

In Botswana, statistics show that the prevalence of blindness is 5.4% among people aged⁹ 50 years and above, and there are about 4,000 cataract patients waiting to do operations.

In 2011, the first Brightness Action Campaign in Botswana provided more than 200 operations.

For CRI, this is Liu Yuanhui reporting in Melopolole, Botswana.

1 cataract   

n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障

参考例句：

• He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人。
• The way is blocked by the tall cataract.高悬的大瀑布挡住了去路。

2 cataracts   

n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障

参考例句：

• The rotor cataracts water over the top of the machines. 回转轮将水从机器顶上注入。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Cataracts of rain flooded the streets. 倾盆大雨弄得街道淹水。 来自辞典例句

3 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

6 backlog   

n.积压未办之事

参考例句：

• It will take a month to clear the backlog of work.要花一个月的时间才能清理完积压的工作。
• Investment is needed to reduce the backlog of repairs.需要投资来減轻积压的维修工作。

7 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

8 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

9 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。